Republican POW’s protest at denial of Temporary Release.On Friday 30th May, Republican prisoners on E3 wing, Portlaoise Gaol refused to lock up for a period of an hour in protest at the denial of the Minister of Justice to grant Temporary Release to two prisoners to attend their children’s first holy communion. The POW’s were joined in the protest by prisoners allegedly aligned to the Irish National Liberation Army on E4. The prisoners, Justin McCarthy from Dundalk and Shane Hickey from Cork, were denied TR without an explanation from the Ministry of Justice, this despite the fact that other prisoners, with different perceived affiliations have been granted TR for the same reasons recently.
The prisoners and the IRPWA are convinced that this denial of TR is based upon the perceived affiliations of the prisoners involved and is directly linked to attacks by the IRA in the six counties.The Officer Commanding of E3 made it clear to the governor of Portlaoise that this was a protest against Dermot Ahern and not against the prison which he accepted.
The IRPWA condemn the Minister of Justice for his pathetic and petty minded attempts to punish Republican POW’s and their families and we salute the IRA and INLA prisoners for the principled stance they have taken in order to highlight this injustice.
