A Republican prisoners' support group is lobbying TDs to ask the Department of Justice to grant compassionate parole to a "Real IRA" inmate in Portlaoise Prison whose father is dying.
The Irish Republican Welfare Association says Danny McAlister, from west Belfast, has had eight applications for compassionate parole turned down. The group says his father has suffered two heart attacks within a week and his family has been advised to be by his bedside.
A spokesman for the Department of Justice said it refused to comment on individual cases.
McAlister is serving an eight-year sentence for involvement in the attempted robbery of a Securicor van in Ashford, Co Wicklow, last year in which a "Real IRA" member, Ronan MacLochlainn, was shot dead by gardai.
Mr Rory Dougan, of the Irish Republican Welfare Association, claimed the Department of Justice was discriminating against McAlister by refusing his requests while regularly granting parole to Provisional IRA inmates. "Provisional IRA prisoners serving substantially longer sentences for far more serious offences are receiving parole for their children's First Communion. Yet Danny McAlister, whose father is dying, can't get out of jail for 24 hours. This puts tremendous strain on him and his family."
Mr Dougan has written to TDs from all parties asking them to lobby the Department of Justice. "There is a lengthy tradition of compassionate parole. Provisional IRA prisoners were granted it long before their ceasefire. All prisoners should be treated equally, regardless of whether they are pro or anti-agreement."