Republican jail protest continues

REPUBLICAN PRISONERS who have barricaded themselves into a dining hall at Northern Ireland’s top security jail continued their…

REPUBLICAN PRISONERS who have barricaded themselves into a dining hall at Northern Ireland’s top security jail continued their protest yesterday.

Twenty-eight inmates blocked the doors of the room at Maghaberry Prison in Co Antrim on Sunday.

A suspicious object was thrown out into the corridor at the outset of the incident at about 10am but bomb disposal officers later said it was not a viable explosive device.

The prisoners, who had been attending Mass in the hall, remained there overnight on Sunday as supporters called for them to be granted political status inside the jail. The incident is centred in the Roe House area of the jail, where republicans are housed away from other offenders.

It is understood there are only limited supplies of food inside the hall and no access to running water.

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