Dr. Ciarán McCullagh:

These would be persistent petty offenders who make up approximately 80% of the population of Mountjoy Prison. These are people who commit small offences on a recurring basis as distinct from a person who commits a public order offence once or twice. Public order offences were a great boom to community projects. The war on public order offences allowed people to deal with soft-end offenders because most public order offenders are not recidivists. They get caught, their mothers give out to them and they do not do it again.