McCabe killers set down own prison rules

THE killers of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe are setting down prison rules for themselves and other inmates, Fine Gael justice spokesman Jim O’Keeffe claimed yesterday.

Mr O’Keeffe claims the four IRA men serving time in Castlerea prison for the 1996 manslaughter of Det Gda McCabe:

insist prisoners serving sex or drug-related sentences are allowed to prepare or cook food for them;

insist the same prisoners are not to work near their accommodation;

fax their daily grocery requirements to a local shop who send up a delivery every day;

have special visitor arrangements.

Mr O’Keeffe said the information was provided to him by prison officers and gardaí unhappy with the situation.

“The picture presented to me was that to a large degree they are establishing their own prison system and laying down rules and regulations for other prisoners.

“I am amazed that the person with overall responsibility, Justice Minister Michael McDowell, who is consistently verbally critical of terrorists and their political associates, Sinn Féin, is presiding over this system.”

The McCabe killers - Pearse McCauley, Michael O’Neill, Kevin Walsh and Jeremiah Sheehy - are, along with 32 other prisoners, living in seven bungalows on the grounds of Castlerea Prison in Co Roscommon.

IRA prisoners were transferred from maximum security Portlaoise Prison to the area known as the Grove as part of a deal under the Northern peace process.

Under the low security regime at the Grove, the prisoners are allowed largely to set their own routine, have keys to their own rooms and front doors and have access to the land around the bungalows.

A spokesman for the Prison Service said no prisoners in the entire prison service had access to a fax machine.

He said prisoners in the Grove could make a phone call like any other prisoner. He said each bungalow had a kitchen and prisoners there were encouraged to cook their own food.

He said evening meals were served in the main prison dining hall but that there was no question of preferential treatment for the IRA men. He said their visits were also monitored.

In April, 2000, they were among ten republicans transferred back to Portlaoise following the detention of a prison officer and the discovery of a paramilitary uniform, a passport, £1,000 in cash, tools and two bottles of alcohol.

In September, 2003, photographs were taken of them alongside four Sinn Fein TDs contrary to prison rules. The pictures were published in the media.

In February, it emerged that they were unaffected by cutbacks in visiting times.