Seven injured in jail brawl

SEVEN prisoners were injured following a brawl yesterday as simmering tensions between two factions of a republican splinter group exploded into violence.

Officers spent nearly 45 minutes trying to separate the two sides as they battered each other with legs of chairs and tables and brush handles.

The fight - described by one veteran prison service as the worst he has seen in 25 years - involved former comrades in the Real IRA. It broke out early yesterday morning inside Portlaoise Prison, the State’s highest security facility.