Prison authorities are wary that inmates may be hoping to raise a toast to swine flu.

The alcohol-based hand cleansing gel which has been made available in work places and institutions to combat the spread of the virus can be used to brew up a potent concoction.

While staff in prisons have been supplied with the gel the Irish Prison Service has not supplied it to inmates in the country's overcrowded jails -- so far.

A spokesman said: "However, in the event of an outbreak of Influenza A [H1N1] among the prison population the Prison Service will issue gels, in line with international and national guidelines."

Frontline officers in the jails believe that inmates are already wise to the potential for creating a new alcoholic brew.

Much of the hand cleansing gel distributed in Ireland carries a clear message that it is alcohol based.

"Prisoners here have shown ingenuity in the past -- so if and when the authorities bring the raw materials in for them, they do not pass up the opportunity," said a senior officer.

"This gel is practically pure alcohol and the rumours circulating are that it can be diluted with fruit, water and sugar to give it a reasonable taste while retaining the buzz."

Tomatoes

In the past, using their contacts on the outside, prisoners have had drugs placed inside tin foil and then secreted them in tomatoes which were thrown on to the wire mesh over prison yards. Crows and other birds pecked the tomatoes, releasing the tin foil wrapped concoctions which fell into the exercise yards in time for collection during recreation.

A similar plan involved hiding the tin foil wraps in cubes of ice, which melted after being thrown on to the mesh.

In Britain, one prison authority where the alcohol-based gel is supplied has already uncovered a brewing operation among inmates.

Peter McParlin of the British Prison Officers Association said the inmates at the jail in the south west of the country were using it to make illicit alcohol.

The gel had been distributed throughout the prison to stop the spread of the swine flu virus.

But he warned that giving inmates access to a gel with an alcohol content was not a good idea and the authorities at the Verne jail in Dorset banned it.

cmallon@herald.ie

- Charlie Mallon