Prisoners take to roof in 'overcrowding' protest
Prison authorities were today trying to end a rooftop protest by republican and loyalist inmates at a Northern Ireland jail.
The eight prisoners spent the night on the roof of Maghaberry Prison near Lisburn, Co Antrim, in an apparent protest at overcrowding.
But sources at the prison said only half of those actually taking part in the protest actually share cells.
All visits to the jail, which houses some of Northern Ireland’s most notorious criminals and terrorists, were suspended today as the crisis deepened.
Both loyalists and republicans prisoners held in the Roe House wing are among those who took to the roof at around 6.45pm last night.
As the authorities examined ways to end the stand-off, a Northern Ireland Office spokeswoman said: “This is jeopardising the safety of both staff and prisoners.
“It’s a co-ordinated attempt to cause maximum disruption to the prison.”
A hoax bomb alert began at around the same time the inmates climbed up onto the roof.
Investigations into the suspicious object meant a group of 15 prisoners in the exercise yard were cut off from the main building for a time, but they have now returned to their cells, the spokeswoman said.
Finlay Spratt, of the Prison Officers Association, claimed management were warned two weeks ago that trouble was brewing over staff cuts and the large prison intake.
Among those held at the high-security complex are feared loyalist terror boss Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair and some of his most powerful enemies within the feuding Ulster Defence Association.
Mr Spratt said: “We as prison officers who have quite an experience of dealing with prisoners in the Northern Ireland Prison Service have been continually saying to management that their policy of doubling these prisoners up was actually going to lead to what is happening.”
