Separated paramilitary prisoners will not be allowed to control Northern Ireland's top security jail, the British government vowed last night.
With loyalists and republicans due to be separated next week following a £7 million refurbishment at Maghaberry, fears have grown that prisoners are seeking a prison regime similar to the defunct Maze Prison.
Prison officers and security chiefs privately admit that a rerun of that regime, where paramilitary command structures dominated cell blocks and warders faced intimidation and no-go areas, seems inevitable.
But the Security Minister, Ms Jane Kennedy, insisted that the new scheme to keep rival factions apart would not plunge Maghaberry into crisis.
Extra security and the guidelines contained in a revised prisoner agreement, which all inmates must sign before they can be separated, will ensure order is retained, she said.
Ms Kennedy declared: "No one wants a return to Maze conditions where staff were threatened, intimidated and subjected to brutal attacks and where prisoners could threaten and intimidate other prisoners with impunity.
"Many have voiced their concerns that separation could ultimately lead us back to a Maze-style regime. I am determined that that should not happen."
Loyalist and republican paramilitaries who want to be separated are due to be transferred from Monday following a major overhaul of Maghaberry.
But warders claimed the authorities will remain under huge pressure from inmates.
Mr Finlay Spratt, chairman of the Prison Officers' Association, said: "I'm not convinced we will not go back to the Maze.
"I believe they have been negotiating with paramilitary representatives.
"If you don't want a return to that scenario you shouldn't talk to these people, but they have already gone down that road."
The government agreed to the separation scheme last September on the basis of recommendations made by a review panel headed by a former prison service chief, Mr John Steele.
Amid a campaign of dirty protests by "Real IRA" prisoners and attacks on warders' homes by loyalists, the Steele group found separation should be implemented on safety grounds.
But authorities had to spend £7 million on installing extra security before the programme could begin. It is expected to cost an additional £7 million a year to run.
"Most of the physical work required in Maghaberry has now been completed and staff training is well under way," Ms Kennedy added.
"The Prison Service aims to achieve full implementation by the middle of March."
She also announced that the Government would soon publish consultation proposals for the appointment of a prison ombudsman.
Mr Tommy Kirkham, a spokesman for the Ulster Political Research Group which advises the paramilitary Ulster Defence Association, welcomed changes made to the scheme. -(PA)