Gangsters in Portlaoise jail who are 'threat to State' should be guarded by army insist prison officers

Prison officers have called into question the Government's decision to remove armed Irish soldiers from security duty at Portlaoise Prison when the jail is now occupied with prisoners who are more dangerous with paramilitaries.

So said Gabriel Keaveny, Deputy General Secretary of the Prison Officer's Association, who is also critical of the move in the context of overcrowded prisons.

"It is very to reconcile this when the prisons are in crisis and the Goverment has decided to take the army out of Portlaoise," Mr Keavney told the Leinster Express Laois Live on the day the decision was leaked from Cabinet.

He explained why he felt the withdrawal of resource does not tally with a service that needs more support. A total of 242 prisoners were housed in Portlaoise Prison by the Irish Prison Service on July 25. It has a capacity for just 229 inmates.

"We have chronic overcrowding - it's the worst that I have seen in over thirty years," he said.

Mr Keavney also warned about the current cohort of 'highly dangerous' prisoners who are a threat to Ireland but who will not now be guarded by soldier's in Ireland's only high-security jail.

"They (soldiers) were there initially for subversives, we have organised criminal gangs that are as if not more dangerous and as big a threat to the State and some of those are housed in Portlaoise and the decision reached is to take the army out.

"I think it is short-sighted and not thought through," he said.

Mr Keaveney said his members will not be able to fill the void in Portlaoise Prison. 

"Prison Officers cannot do the work that the Defence Forces did. The Gardaí don't operate in the prison so we are being left to our own devices when the army goes and there is no plan b in place," he said.

Mr Keavney added that there had been no talks between the Department of Justice and the POA other than an advance email advising them of the change.

"The army has been very successful over many years and now at a whim, the Government takes them away," he said.

Mr Keavney made the comments in response to reports that the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee was given the green light to bring an end to an era of armed soldiers being deployed to the Portlaoise to guard paramilitaries. The Laois prison has had armed personnel on the premises since 1973 soon after the start of the Troubles.

The number of subversives dwindled after the Good Friday agreement and it is understood that there are now just a handful of inmates in E-wing which has been used for paramilitaries.

The Department of Justice confirmed the change.

"Following engagement with the Department of Defence, the Irish Prison Service, An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces in relation to the recommendations of the Commission on the Defence Forces concerning the deployment of the Defence Forces at Portlaoise Prison the Minister obtained Government approval on 24 July for her plan for the withdrawal of the Defence Forces from the prison. The Department will not be commenting further as the matter relates to prison security," it said.

Garda HQ has yet to state what new policing resources will be given to the Laois Offaly Garda station to pick up some of the slack left.

The Irish Prison Service told the Leinster Express that it does not comment on matters relating to prison security. There was no comment from the Defence Forces.