PRISON CONDITIONS:THE ESCALATION of the dirty protest – in which republican prisoners seeking the reinstatement of political status refused to wash or use toilet facilities – dominates the material released this year by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.
The material includes a series of strongly-worded complaints to the then secretary of state for Northern Ireland in the Conservative government, Humphrey Atkins, from an independent nationalist member of parliament, Frank Maguire.
The dirty protest eventually gave way to the hunger strikes of 1980 and 1981.
On September 18th, 1979, Maguire, MP for Fermanagh-South Tyrone, wrote to Atkins alleging ill-treatment of republican prisoners in the H-Blocks at the Maze prison. He alleged prisoners were beaten in the cells as they returned from visits.
The MP’s allegations drew support from Catholic chaplain to the prison Fr Tom Toner, who provided the authorities with a list of those allegedly beaten. However, Atkins rejected the allegations in a letter to Maguire.
The MP impressed on Atkins: “The Catholic community believe that these attacks occur and they do not excuse them even when a prison officer has been murdered by the IRA . . . even though you do not believe this and find it unproven, I want it stopped – your credibility is at stake.”
Maguire threatened to have the complaints “read into the record of the United States Congress” if action was not taken. Significantly, part of the MP’s letter to the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) is blacked out, presumably because it named prison officers.
In a note on the file, a senior official, A K Templeton, wrote that Maguire’s letter bore “all the intemperate hallmarks of Fr Denis Faul”, the outspoken Dungannon priest and civil rights activist.
However, the MP’s allegations of brutality were investigated by the governor of the Maze. In his report to the NIO, dated October 4th, 1979, the governor, Stanley Hilditch, alleged that minor injuries had been sustained by prisoners when, as part of their protest campaign, a number of them had resisted an official search.
One inmate, Anthony McIntyre, sustained injuries when he refused to undergo a bath, a requirement for an impending court appearance. A doctor who examined him confirmed that “superficial abrasions may have been sustained in the struggle to bathe this inmate”.
On July 7th, 1979, Maguire wrote to Atkins about women prisoners in Armagh jail. During a visit by him, prisoners had complained of inadequate medical facilities, interference with mail and inadequate bathing and toilet facilities. Maguire told Atkins: “There are only two baths and a shower for 40 prisoners . . . it is indecent that male authorities should decide that women should only be allowed to use the toilet once during lock-up. This breaks international standards.”
In addition, the women complained about restrictions on prison food, “namely two spoonfuls of jam per prisoner per week and four slices of bread per day. Tea is given loose and the girls have to make teabags from their tights.”
An official with the NIO, A McKechnie, noted that the prison governor stated that the food was of a high standard and the women were in good health.
In a further note, the governor, N C Scott, agreed it would be “indecent if the prisoners were denied the toilet during lock-up”. But he added: “These prisoners are locked up because of their refusal to work. They make all sorts of excuses to be let out of their cells.”
Replying to Maguire, the prisons minister, Michael Alison, stated that the women prisoners could enjoy all the normal privileges “just as soon as they conform to the prison rules”.
The Fermanagh MP remained unimpressed, informing Atkins on September 17th, 1979, that dinner was inedible.
He continued: “As part of your barbarous policy . . . these girls do not get food parcels. If you do not deal with this complaint soon . . . I shall have to say that it is your policy to starve these poor girls into submission.”