Portlaoise prison ira. folk song in praise of the Mountjoy escape was one of a number of hit records of the 1970s extolling prison breaks-out, prison resistance and hunger strikes. Mar 29, 2021 · Between 1973 and 1977, about 100 Provisional republican prisoners staged a series of violent prison protests and hunger strikes in the Republic of Ireland’s high-security prison, Portlaoise. Dec 24, 2024 · Initially the IRA solely defended Catholic areas but began an offensive campaign in 1970, using guerilla tactics against the British Army and RUC. He was the only officer in the Irish Prison Service to be killed in connection with the Troubles in Northern Ireland. R. Nov 9, 2023 · This comical, but inescapably pro-I. Nineteen republican prisoners escaped from Portlaoise Prison, 35 years ago on Sunday, 19 August 1974. Oct 3, 2024 · Irish soldiers have been withdrawn from guard duty at Portlaoise Prison after 51 years due to the declining numbers of subversive prisoners. Among them were John Gilligan, the drug trafficker implicated in the 1996 murder of Veronica Guerin, and Christy Kinahan, the leader of the Kinahan cartel. The shooting of Brian Stack occurred on 25 March 1983. The escape was a timely reminder of the determination, tenacity and ingenuity with which IRA Volunteers throughout the country fought against British rule in Ireland. Political controversy arose in 2016 Mar 15, 2025 · New IRA leader visited Portlaoise Prison to advance ceasefire talks It is understood that a senior Belfast leader of the New IRA visited jailed members in Portlaoise Prison a few weeks ago to . Dec 30, 2024 · The Irish Prison Service is considering closing down the Portlaoise Prison landing that has traditionally held IRA prisoners, the Irish Independent understands. The Defence Forces were deployed to the prison at the height of the Troubles in the 1970s in order to prevent IRA prisoners from escaping. Stack was the chief prison officer at Portlaoise Prison, and he was shot in the neck by members of the Provisional IRA. [1] He died after 18 months in hospital on 29 September 1984. Since 1973 the Co Laois prison has been guarded It is the prison in which people convicted of membership of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and other illegal paramilitary and designated terrorist organisations are usually detained. Resear Aug 27, 2009 · The implementation of these measures was to have far-reaching consequences for republican prisoners, as conditions in the prison deteriorated rapidly over the following months, leading eventually to two hunger strikes in 1975 and 1977. Former Sinn Féin vice-president Phil Flynn wrote about The Heath: “Through the most difficult stages of the struggle this was a a hive of 30 years on: The Great Portlaoise Escape In August 1974, 19 republican POWs blasted their way out of Portlaoise Prison in County Laois. This campaign resulted in the arrests of many IRA soldiers who believed they were prisoners of war and had a responsibility to break out. Oct 3, 2024 · Irish soldiers are no longer providing a 24/7 armed guard at Portlaoise Prison for the first time in more than 50 years. A number of IRA and dissident republican prisoners are housed in "E Block". The prison service began using cells in the block’s basement to hold serious criminals in the 1990s. Many areas close by were very involved too and sympathetic to those at the centre of it. A. Jan 29, 2025 · 2025 looks likely to be the year that the IRA wing in Portlaoise high-security prison is closed for good marking the end of an era and leaving a handful of dissident prisoners with no more Aug 21, 2024 · And for a long number of those terrible years, Portlaoise was very much a relevant location, the high security prison in the town being a home for the IRA prisoners. 9jnikra 0rqqtn zplb 3gy2h3 w93 wrl tjj2q j6dt yx7hk re4