Officers treated after prison attack

TWO prison officers were jumped on after they seized a package containing drugs thrown over a wall of a Dublin jail.

One of the officers, a female, was knocked unconscious after hitting her head on the ground in the attack at Cloverhill Prison in West Dublin.

The officers, both in their 20s, were brought to hospital for treatment and were said to be badly shaken by the incident.

“This is a horrific attack and highlights the dangerous job prison officers are doing,” said Eugene Dennehy of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA).

The two officers were supervising an exercise yard with 83 prisoners when, at around 2.40pm, a package was thrown over, landing near the officers.

“When the male officer went to retrieve it, he was set upon by a number of prisoners. The female officer went to his assistance and she was knocked unconscious,” said Mr Dennehy. A spokesman for the Prison Service said a contract had been awarded to provide nets over the yard, which was the size of a football pitch, and construction would begin soon.

Meanwhile, senior members of the POA will hold talks tomorrow as the service’s director general admitted he has planned for the worst case scenario, an all-out strike.

The POA executive is expected to discuss Justice Minister Michael McDowell’s prison closure plan and remarks made by Director General Sean Aylward yesterday.

There is anger among staff that the minister announced a timetable for closing Spike Island in Cork and the Curragh in Kildare and downgrading two open prisons ahead of a planned meeting between staff and management next week.

It has emerged that up to 2,000 soldiers are being trained to take over the landings of the 12 remaining prisons. Gardaí will also be involved, but to a lesser extent.

Details of the emergency plan were confirmed by Mr Aylward yesterday.