Republican protestors rock North’s top security jail
Suzanne Breen, Sunday World
Maghaberry jail was lit up with the colours of the Irish Tricolour as hardline republican protestors launched fireworks into the prison.
In incredible scenes yesterday, the jail in the staunchly unionist village, was bathed in green, white and orange while the Tricolour and republican placards were placed on the prison gates.
Around 150 republicans took part in a 24-hour fast and vigil outside the top-security Co Antrim jail, forcing it to shut down, with all visits cancelled for two days.
Police officers watched the drama from their Land Rovers. Unionists condemned the protest as disgraceful, saying it had left local residents deeply worried.
Republicans are engaged in a bitter confrontation with Justice Minister David Ford about prison conditions.
More than 30 prisoners are on a dirty protest over forced strip-searching and up to 23-hour a day lock up. The authorities say strip-searching is vital to security.
The protestors blasted republican songs from loud-speakers into the jail which also houses dozens of loyalists.
Riot-clad prison officers with Alsatian dogs patrolled the prison grounds, as ‘A Nation Once Again’, ‘Sean South’, and ‘The Foggy Dew’ played at full volume.
The protestors slept overnight in tents outside the jail.
Mandy Duffy, sister-in-law of Maghaberry prisoner Colin Duffy – currently on trial for allegedly murdering two British soldiers at Massereene – told the crowd: “The prisoners remain unbowed and unbroken.
“They’ll continue their protest until strip-searching ends.” If republicans on the outside “showed solidarity”, the prisoners would secure their rights, she said.
Colin Duffy’s wife Martine, daughter Caitriona, and brother Paul, all took part in the rally. The protestors claim that, in a deal last year, the authorities promised to introduce electronic technology to end strip-searching.
David Ford denies any guarantees were given and defends the Maghaberry regime.
Ex-Provisional IRA prisoner, Tony Catney, branded him “a quisling with no spine” and demanded Ford implement the agreement. “Our prisoners are being brutalised. They’ll not get away with, we’ll make sure they don’t!” Catney told the crowd.
Some prisoners are smearing their cells with excrement, others are throwing it onto prison landings. They’ve all long beards as they’ve stopped shaving and cutting their hair.
Gary Donnelly of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement said: “It’s shocking that in 2011, prisoners endure the same conditions as H-Block blanketmen in the 70s.
They’re living in their own excrement. Politicians must take action to sort this out.”
Ruby McConville, whose son Sean (26) is a republican prisoner, said: “Visiting him is heart-breaking and leaving him is worse but his spirit won’t be broken.”
Ex-Real IRA prisoner Martin Rafferty of the Maghaberry Family and Friends group, which organised the protest, warned it was “the start, not the end” of the campaign. “We’ve closed down Maghaberry for two days at considerable financial cost to the authorities.
“The situation can be sorted and future protests avoided if last year’s agreement is implemented and strip-searching ends,” he added. “New technology means this wont compromise security at the jail.”
Republican protestors from across the North are planning to meet in Newry on Saturday to drive in convoy to the British embassy in Dublin. Major traffic disruption is expected on both sides of the Border.
The prisoners claim that a BOSS chair – an X-ray-type machine already in Maghaberry – means strip searching isn’t needed. But the prison service says BOSS chairs “serve as an aid, not alternative, to full body searching”.
It denies allegations of brutality against prisoners. The DUP accused republicans of wanting to “turn Maghaberry into the Maze“.
