President Higgins hosted an event marking an initiative to expand the Gaisce programme within the Irish Prison Service.
Gaisce, the President’s Award, is a self-development programme for young people between the ages of 15 and 25, and since 2004 it has also been operating in a small number of Irish prisons. Some 190 people have completed their Gaisce challenges, and several young men have been presented with their Gold Awards by President Michael D. Higgins, in the Midlands Prison and in Oberstown Children Detention Campus.