The lives of prison officers have come under threat in a grim twist to ongoing protests by dissident republicans at Maghaberry Prison. Prisoners linked to the Continuity IRA and Real IRA have been staging so-called dirty protests at the Co Antrim jail in an effort to secure a return to segregation from other inmates.
The Continuity IRA last night (Wednesday) threatened to take "direct military action" against prison officers at the jail, claiming wardens had carried out "physical and mental" torture of its members. The organisation also claimed that its intelligence units had gathered the names and addresses of members of the Northern Ireland Prison Service.
In recent weeks, prisoners have also claimed that their lives are being endangered because they are being integrated with loyalist inmates at Maghaberry. Security minister Jane Kennedy has already rejected claims this month that up to 10 Real IRA and Continuity IRA men had been beaten and hosed down in their cells. She also insisted that there are no plans to review segregation policy at the high-security facility.
Prison authorities have said safety is best secured by 'integration' and claimed the dispute has been being manufactured by inmates in an attempt to gain power in the jail.
