Prison roof protest ends as inmates climb down
A three-day rooftop protest at Maghaberry Prison ended today when the remaining prisoners climbed off the roof.
Prison staff removed one of the inmates at around 4am today while the other two came down voluntarily just before 8am.
The prisoners have since been medically examined.
A prison service spokeswoman said there had been minor damage caused to the roof of each house at the Co Antrim jail and a fuller assessment would be carried out at a later stage.
“It is intended to run visits to all parts of the prison as normal today,” she added.
Prison Service Director General Peter Russell praised management and staff at Maghaberry for helping to bring the protest to an end.
“Their leadership, professionalism and experience helped ensue that the situation was resolved peacefully without injuries to staff and prisoners,” he said.
Hopes for an end to the demonstration were raised yesterday when the first of the prisoners ended his protest at around 6.45am.
The protest began on Thursday afternoon as a British government-appointed review team visited the jail as part of its inquiry into staff and inmates’ concerns.
Tensions have been running high at the prison in recent months with demands for segregation by dissident republicans and loyalists.
A number of republicans are currently engaged in a “dirty protest” as part of their call to be placed in a separate wing from loyalist prisoners.
So far prison authorities have resisted their calls.
At one stage during the current rooftop protest the prisoner unfurled a banner reading “Segregation Now“.
In June, a similar protest involving eight prisoners took place at Roe House.
The homes of several prison officers have been attacked with pipe bombs in recent weeks and army bomb experts have been called to deal with hoax devices at the prison.
Earlier this week Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy appointed a three-man panel to investigate staff and prisoners’ concerns about safety.
