Republican News · Thursday 9 January 1996

[An Phoblacht]

Portlaoise revisited

Twenty-two years ago Pairic Mac Fhloinn was sent to Portlaoise Prison, convicted of IRA membership. Now, following his repatriation from Full Sutton Prison in England, he finds himself back in Portlaoise again. He writes about the changes he has found since 1975.

IT'S IRONIC that I should be back in Portlaoise again after a lapse of 20 years. Having endeavoured over the last two decades, since my release in 1976, to avoid the place, and after a number of years in an English prison, I never thought that I'd be pleased to see the inside of its dark, grim and forbidding walls again.

Following my repatriation along with Mick O'Brien and Derek Doherty from Full Sutton prison in England two months ago, it is strange being back in Portlaoise prison again after such a long time. In 1975, at a time when republicans refused to recognise the courts, I was arrested, charged with IRA membership and sentenced to 12-months imprisonment. I served nine months and, with remission, I was released in January 1976.

Coming from a staunchly republican family it was inevitable that some of us would end up in jail, and as it turned out we were not strangers to imprisonment. Myself, both my parents and my sister were jailed for our political beliefs. My father, Patrick McGlynn, served a term of imprisonment in Arbour Hill Prison from 1936-'37, and again in Mountjoy jail and the Glasshouse in the Curragh, from 1940 to December 1946. He was among the last 22 republican prisoners to be released after the 1939-'42 IRA campaign.

My mother, Margaret McGlynn (nee Rita McSweeney), who's been active in An Cumann Cabhrach, the Republican Prisoners' Dependents' organisation, since its foundation in 1953, was imprisoned in Aylesbury prison, London, for her part in the 1939 IRA bombing campaign in England. Sentenced to five years imprisonment for possession of explosives, she was released in mid-March 1943, having served three years and nine months. Ironically, exactly fifty years later to the day, on 16 March, 1993, she was back at an English prison, this time to visit me for the first time since my arrest while I was on remand at Belmarsh Prison. My sister, Josephine, also served a term of imprisonment, in 1973-'74.

When I first arrived in Portlaoise Prison in the spring of 1975, it was shortly after the unsuccessful escape attempt in March during which Volunteer Tom Smith was killed, the 47-day hunger strike by POWs for political status, the Christmas riot for improved conditions when all the POWs' possessions were swept away by screws and police with hoses, and only six months after the daring escape by nineteen republicans from the jail. As a result, there were virtually no recreational activities available for prisoners when I arrived. However, gradually over the months a few activities were provided for us.

Tension was high in the jail between us and the authorities who sought to deny us political status and treat us as criminals. Throughout the year, we were in constant conflict with the authorities and on several occasions as punishment, we were deprived of all our cell furniture, being left only with our bedding. We were deprived of workshops, which were closed for days and sometimes weeks at a time. The comradeship of fellow POWs, particularly during those often difficult times, was unbelievable and was a tremendous boost to everyone's morale. When I was being released in January 1976, the workshops were again closed and some of the craft work that I'd been making remained unfinished.

In early 1993, I was again to see the inside of a jail, this time an English prison. After almost four years imprisonment in England, I was repatriated to Ireland in mid-November 1996 and taken to Portlaoise prison.

Returning to Portlaoise again after 20 years, I was in fact very surprised at how little things had changed in the intervening period. The atmosphere, however, now is far more relaxed. Gone is the high tension of 1975/6 between the prison authorities and ourselves at the height of the infamous Fine Gael/Labour Coalition.

Of the few changes that have occurred, most have been for the better. There is no longer a constant presence of dozens of Gardaí and Special Branch men sitting on each end of the landings. They often attempted to intimidate the POWs and provoke them into retaliation and were a major cause of tension in the jail. Also, while cell searches and mass searches of the prison still take place, the frequent cell searches by screws, accompanied by the Gardaí, sometimes in riot gear, where prisoners were very often savagely beaten and forcibly strip-searched, seem to be a thing of the past.

Surprisingly, bang-ups during the day, for dinner, 12.45pm to 2.15pm, and for tea, 4.10pm to 5.15pm (which I had become accustomed to in English prisons and did not expect to see here), are in operation in Portlaoise. In contrast, 20 years ago, we were out of our cells all day, from 8am until nine at night.

The number of prisoners in Portlaoise is exactly one third the number that were here in 1976. Back then, the IRA occupied three landings - the ``base'', the two's and the three's - almost the whole prison. Now, however, republican prisoners occupy cells on only two landings - the four's and the three's - while non-aligned prisoners are on the two's with the ordinary prisoners on the base.

Thankfully, none of the prisoners who were imprisoned with me in 1976 are still here. In England, this would not have been the case. Had I been returning to an English jail after an absence of 20 years, the lifers (a number of the republican prisoners who were arrested in 1975 and have served 21 years of life sentences), would still have been there.

It's difficult to get used to the large ``open'' four-landing wing in Portlaoise prison, which is so different to the small two-storey rectangular structures, with narrow corridors and small compact cells in Full Sutton and other prisons where I was held.

The food is much the same quality as it was twenty years ago, but all this could change with the soon-to-be-implemented new catering arrangements. The recreation facilities have improved somewhat. The usual craft work, such as leather work, mirrors, bodhrán-making and hankies, is still carried on to help prisoners pass the time and to assist An Cumann Cabhrach. But woodwork, which went a long way towards teaching POWs a trade, is no longer allowed. It was prohibited a number of years ago. In addition, today, compared to 20 years ago, the improved educational and recreational facilities include computers, educational courses (including open university studies), a pool-cum-snooker table, a small very basic gymnasium, and the provision of musical instruments.

Medical treatment was appalling back in 1975. I only hope that it has improved.

The better conditions today in Portlaoise, and our recognition by the authorities as POWs, are to a huge extent the result of protests, - including prolonged hunger-strikes by Republican prisoners here over the years which irreparably damaged the health of many men - and possibly more recently, a spin-off from the peace process.

The sanitary conditions here leave a lot to be desired and can still only be described as primitive. While the prisons in England are more modernised with toilet and washing facilities in each cell, these very basic but necessary facilities are sadly lacking here in Portlaoise where ``slopping-out'' is still in existence.

Returning to the jail after such a long absence, it's like stepping back into the dark ages. The authorities in this old Victorian jail are, I've been told, slowly attempting to improve the situation, having very recently installed showers on each landing. Thankfully, the cells are now wired for sockets, which was not the case when I was last here.

A striking contrast between now and twenty years ago is in the visiting conditions. In 1975/6, ``closed'' visits, where visitor and prisoner were separated from each other by a perspex screen, where no physical contact was permitted, were the norm. (For republican prisoners in the SSU's in English prisons, similar draconian conditions prevail today.) The effect of these closed visits on family life were devastating and in some cases led to the break-up of marriages. Now, the visits are ``open''. They are much more humane, and the prisoner and his visitors can now relax and chat in relative ease.

But the greatest changes here since 1976 have been regarding security. While members of the Free State army still patrol the roof and walls, huge security posts are now situated on the perimeter walls. The priority appears to be to fortify the jail, with the provision of basic facilities for the prisoners coming a very poor second to all of this.

However, the one thing that has not changed is the dedication and commitment of the POWs and their families to their republican beliefs, and today they remain as staunch as those of twenty years ago. One day, hopefully, the time will come when republicans will no longer have to endure long years of sacrifice, suffering, and imprisonment in Irish, English and foreign jails for their political beliefs.

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