NI firm wins prison van order

A Northern Ireland firm has been awarded a €3.9m contract to supply 45 prison vans to the Irish Prison Service, it emerged today.

Auto manufacturers Gray & Adams (Ireland) Ltd of Newtownabbey, Co Antrim will supply the cellular transport vehicles to ferry prisoners to and from court hearings.

The vehicles will be manufactured to specifications set out by the Irish Prison Service, which received seven offers to its tender issued earlier this month.

Established in Scotland in 1957, Gray & Adams has four manufacturing sites within the UK and Ireland.

It specialises in the design and assembly of rigid vehicles for the refrigeration and agricultural industries.

Separately, a €2.2m contract to design and develop a training programme for newly-recruited prison officers has been won by the Institute of Technology in Sligo.

Those who complete the course will get a qualification equivalent to a Higher Education and Training Awards Council (HETAC) certificate within the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland’s framework of qualifications.