Portlaoise Prison
The following statement has been received from Gerry Hanratty,
OC, IRA POWs, Portlaoise Prison.
On Tuesday, 9 November, I returned to Portlaoise Prison from a period of parole and updated republican POWs there on the developing political situation. The briefing and subsequent discussions were conducted in private and in a comradely fashion. Important and relevant questions were posed and answered in these discussions. There was no voice of dissent in relation to the matters discussed.
A short time after these discussions and as a result of an entirely unrelated matter, a row arose between two POWs. Fellow POWs immediately calmed the situation without intervention from prison staff. The issue which gave rise to this row has since been resolved.
Despite media reports to the contrary, these events were totally unconnected. Suggestions that leading Sinn Féin members were present during either event or that POWs were heard to shout ``sell-out'' during the political discussions are totally false. The attempt to sensationalise these events has its origin with elements within the prison authorities here and the Gardaí, the motivations of whom should be clear to all.
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