Police respond to strikes at Northern Ireland prisons
Police have been called in to man three prisons in Northern Ireland as prison officers are refusing to work.
Officers and managers have been in dispute about security arrangements at prisoner’s homes. Officers claim that they are being caused undue stress because they fear for the security of their families.
The walkout has affected Belfast’s Hydebank Young Offenders centre, Magilligan prison in County Londonderry, and Maghaberry jail in County Antrim.
With staff failing to turn up for work, the normal prison regimes have been halted and prisoners have been locked in their cells.
Prison Service director Peter Russell has attacked the strike action as ‘reprehensible’ and raised concern over the disruption of prisoners in already ‘volatile’ conditions.
However, Finlay Spratt, the chairman of the Prison Officers Association, has backed the unofficial strike action, despite rumours that Union representatives are involved.
Mr Spratt expressed his ‘utmost sympathy’ for the prison workers, who he argued have been forced to show prison management that ‘they had had enough.’ However, he also admitted that he did not know about the action in advance.
Prior to this, talks between the Union and the Prisons Minister Jane Kennedy failed to make progress and were described as a ‘waste of time’ by the union.
