A Northern Irish jail holding some of the most dangerous republican paramilitary prisoners is unsafe and unstable, according to a damning report.
Inspectors who visited Maghaberry prison, outside Lisburn in County Antrim, in May noted that the jail was in a “state of crisis”, according to the report by HM Chief Inspectorate of Prisons in England and Wales and Criminal Justice Northern Ireland.
In recent years, there have been clashes between hardline republican inmates and prison staff as well as a number of suicides. In one high-profile case, a young inmate gouged out his eyes in protest over his treatment at the facility.
The report was published jointly by Brendan McGuigan, chief inspector of Criminal Justice NI, and Nick Hardwick, chief inspector of prisons, on Thursday. They noted serious failings in leadership at Maghaberry.
Hardwick described the prison as the most dangerous he had visited and a “very worrying and disturbing public institution”.
The report’s authors concluded: “Maghaberry had become unsafe and unstable and was in a downward spiral that could have led to serious consequences. This was, in our collective opinion, a prison in crisis.”
The report found that staff and prisoners felt unsafe in the facility. Services for vulnerable prisoners, particularly those at risk of suicide, were inadequate, it said, adding that nearly all prisoners were locked in their cells for too long.
There are about 50 dissident republican prisoners in the jail, 31 of whom are aligned to the New IRA. The remainder are linked to the Continuity IRA. They belong to two factions opposed to the peace process and support the continuation of armed struggle.
Staff at the jail have been under constant threat from republicans after the New IRA murdered the prison officer David Black as he drove to work in 2012.
Northern Ireland’s justice minister, David Ford, said on Thursday there had been many changes to the jail since the inspectors visited in May. But the report rightly acknowledged the many difficulties in running a prison like Maghaberry, he said.
