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Maghaberry prison warder shot dead 1.11.2012 | Irish Republican News
The "Northern Ireland Office", which is run by the British state and which
still holds the power in many areas of life in the North of Ireland, especially
in everything related to "national security" or "terrorism", has been using
massive human right violations against against some activists of the so called
Irish Republican dissidents, several micro groups who work against the peace
process.
The ongoing internment of Marion Price is an example of this British policy.
Prison conditions and human rights violations against prisoners have also been
a matter of concern. A report which has been conducted recently still needs to
be acted upon.
Against this background the Irish Republican News reports today the killing of
a prison warder:
A prison warder has died in an apparent IRA attack on his way to
Maghaberry prison today.
He was ambushed on a stretch of the M1 between Portadown and Lurgan in
County Armagh.
One unconfirmed report claimed he was shot from another vehicle which
then sped away. The man was on his way to begin duty at the top-security
Maghaberry Prison, near Lisburn, County Antrim, where republican
prisoners have been involved in long-running protests against jail
conditions.
A car suspected of being linked to the attack was later found burnt-out
at Lurgan. The attack has come as a surprise to the political establishment. There
had been little direct conflict in the North since July, when a number
of breakaway IRA groups announced that they had regrouped to form a new
organisation carrying the name.
British military intelligence last week lowered the threat of an IRA
attack on British soil from "severe" to "moderate".
British Direct Ruler Theresa Villiers also claimed that the number of
attacks in the Six Counties had declined by 20% from last year, while
warning that the threat in the North remained "severe".
Sinn Fein Assembly member John O'Dowd called the shooting "totally
wrong". He said:
“This morning’s attack on the M1 has resulted in an utterly pointless death of
a prison officer. It will resolve nothing either within the prisons or in wider
society. It is not part of any strategy or campaign.
All it has done is to plunge a family into grief. The people responsible or
those who act as their political spokespeople need to explain themselves to
the community. Time and again when these factions carry out violent acts
we get complete silence from those who at other times are only too willing
to come onto the airwaves and attack the political process.
It is patently obvious that the peace process will not be derailed by
incidents like this. It hasn’t in the past and it won’t in the future.
That is a reality that those behind these actions need to realise and bring an
end to these pointless actions.”
Photo:
Maghaberry Prison During the conflict about 800 Irish republican political prisoners were held in Long Cash (Maze prison). They were released as result of the peace process in 2001. Nowadays there are about 70 political prisoners in Maghaberry, belonging to different factions of dissident republican groups.
First published in
Irish Republican News, 1. November 2012