Republicans confined to cell after chamber pot jail protest
Five members of the INLA have been punished by the prison authorities as a result of protests at the nation's top security jail at Portlaoise.
The five dissident republicans are being locked up in their cells for 23 hours a day for the maximum term of 56 days, it emerged yesterday.
Prison authorities took the decision on Tuesday night following a series of incidents including an episode in which the contents of chamber pots were thrown at governor Ned Whelan and a number of his staff. The five had also cut their way through wire mesh on their E4 landing and joined Continuity IRA prisoners on the landing below before making their way to a recreation hall and staging a protest about cell searches.
The prison management responded by imposing the lock-ups as well as denying them visits and telephone calls during the punishment period.
The inmates will be allowed out of their cells only for an hour's exercise and to wash.
However, some staff sources criticised the decision to leave the five in their own cells and said they should have been transferred to the segregation unit. Staff members also said they felt "humiliated" by a decision to return two other INLA prisoners, who had been taken to the segregation unit on Tuesday morning, to their own cells.
They said this move had weakened the position of senior staff.
Eight INLA prisoners on the E4 landing had been protesting because they felt they were being targeted unfairly for cell searches.
This followed a search on Sunday when staff learned that an INLA prisoner had allegedly fashioned a weapon out of the handle of a soup ladle.
The contents of a chamber pot were also poured through wire mesh to the two landings below, where the Continuity IRA group and the 30 Real IRA inmates are housed.
Humiliated
It seeped into a kitchenette on the Real IRA landing and forced its closure. That led to the INLA group apologising to the other renegade group.
The Prison Officers' Association said it was deeply concerned by the incidents over the past few days and pointed out that it was the first time in over 30 years that a governor had come under attack from inmates.
However, the Prison Service described the disturbances as minor and said the details had been hyped up.
- Tom Brady Security Editor
