Republican and Loyalist Prisoners

HC Deb 03 May 1983 vol 42 cc31-2W

Mr. Peter Robinson

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many prisoners in Northern Ireland are presently refusing to conform to prison rules; how this compares with the figures for each of the last 10 years; and what is the breakdown of these figures between Republican and Loyalist prisoners.

Mr. John Patten

On 25 April, 1983, 156 prisoners at Maze—148 describing themselves as Loyalist and eight describing themselves as Republicans—were refusing to conform with prison rules. The following table gives figures, for each year back to 1977, of prisoners similarly taking part in concerted protest action in breach of prison rules. Before the phasing out of special category status for certain sentenced prisoners started in 1976, there was no comparable protest action in the prisons.

Number of prisoners taking part in concerted protest action in breach of prison rules
	Republican	Loyalist	Total
1 April 1982	258	—	258
1 April 1981	447	—	447
1 April 1980	392	5	397
1 April 1979	406	12	418
1 April 1978	321	—	321
1 April 1977	100	—	100

Mr. Peter Robinson

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Loyalist and how many Republican prisoners there are in Northern Ireland prisons; and what is the breakdown of the figures for each prison.

Mr. John Patten

Although there are certain prisoners who can be described as either Loyalist or Republicans, it is not practicable to attempt to classify all prisoners as being in one category or the other. The information requested is not therefore available.

Mr. Peter Robinson

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is his policy towards demands of prisoners in Northern Ireland to live in segregated wings comprised of either Loyalist or Republican prisoners.

Mr. John Patten

I believe that to introduce a system in which living accommodation was segregated on the lines sought by some prisoners would substantially increase the influence of paramilitary organisations in the prisons and lead to an unacceptable loss of control by the prison authorities.