Dissidents to hold ‘tent city’ protest at top prison
Suzanne Breen, Sunday World
A top security Northern Ireland jail could go into meltdown when hundreds of dissident republicans hold a huge 24-hour rally and fast at its gates.
The protestors will sleep outside Maghaberry prison, on the outskirts of the staunchly loyalist Co Antrim village, in tents and camper vans later this month.
A flute band playing republican songs will join the overnight protest which will be a security nightmare for the PSNI.
All the North’s paramilitary prisoners are housed in the jail. Enraged loyalists are likely to mount a counter-protest. Fears are growing that events could spiral out of control ending up in serious disturbances both inside and outside the prison.
The high-profile rally is a sign that republicans are racheting up the pressure on Stormont Justice Minister, David Ford, in a bitter confrontation over jail conditions.
More than 30 republican prisoners are on a dirty protest over forced strip-searching and up to 23-hour a day lock-up.
Some are smearing their cells with excrement, others are throwing it out the window or onto prison landings. Prison officers are now wearing boiler suits over their uniforms and the riot squad are on the republican wing.
In a throwback to the worst days in Northern Ireland’s prison history, the inmates have stopped shaving and cutting their hair, giving them the appearance of H-Block blanketmen.
Ex-Real IRA prisoner, Martin Rafferty, of the Maghaberry family and friends’ group, said: “The situation is deteriorating rapidly. It’s now at breaking point. We’re going to the jail gates to be seen and heard.”
Rafferty said that, in a deal last year, the authorities had promised to introduce electronic technology to end strip-searching.
“They’ve broken that agreement,” he claimed. “We’ve patiently given politicians, clergy, and trade unionists time to resolve the issue. Now, we’re making our stand.”
The republican protestors will gather with bin lids – a symbol of republican resistance from internment – and loud-speakers. A flute band and other musicians will provide ‘entertainment’ throughout the night.
Loyalist and ordinary criminals, who are housed near the jail gates, will hear everything. “We intend for our vigil to be peaceful. We don’t want to cause trouble,” said Rafferty.
“But the easiest way for the authorities to avoid any potential conflict at the protest is to implement the agreement and end forcible strip-searching.”
Republican campaigners claim that a BOSS chair – an x-ray-type machine already in the jail – means strip-searching isn’t needed. They say inmates leaving and re-entering prison for court appearances and hospital treatment could sit in the chair and be ‘scanned’ rather than strip-searched.
Last week’s report by Dame Ann Owers – commissioned by David Ford- stated strip-searching was “intrusive” for prisoners and recommended if “more effective electronic methods” were available, they must be considered.
Lorraine Murphy from Coalisland, Co Tyrone, whose husband Kevin is in Maghaberry facing paramilitary charges, said:
“Dame Ann Owers is an establishment figure and even she says strip-searching is inhumane. Her report gives David Ford a way of ending this outdated practice.
“Portlaoise houses republican prisoners and uses electronic scanning not strip-searching. Security isn’t compromised there. Why can’t Maghaberry do the same?”
Murphy claimed her husband has endured “brutal” strip-searches. “A prison chaplain says he’s living in a cell not fit for a dog,” she said.
A prison service spokesman said: “BOSS chairs serve as an aid, not as alternative to, or replacement for, full body searching.” The authorities strongly deny allegations of brutality.
