POA agm : call for end to dissident parades

by Harvey Duff ( pers cap ) Sat May 30, 2009 13:42

Just a brief update for indymedia Ireland readers on events since the AGM.
As people can probably imagine , a lot of the lads have been despondent since the Fianna Fail government's decision to shelve the Thornton Hall project without a single block for the new prison being laid . At the same time as huge sums were being wasted on consultancy fees for the project , officers were subjected to vicious cutbacks in work conditions which saw overtime payments reduced by as much as twenty per cent .
In a sign of the growing anger felt by officers across the country over conditions in the industry , some of the Portlaoise lads gave up their lunch breaks yesterday to stage an unofficial protest .

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/officers-stage-....html

by Harvey Duff Sun May 03, 2009 15:56

Mayday solidarity greetings to the conference in Castlebar from the Prison Officers Association in Britain were read out on Friday . Its national chair Colin Moses warned of the increasingly liberal approach that was disempowering over-worked officers at jails throughout these islands .

by Harvey Sun May 03, 2009 15:34

The POA’s agm concluded on Friday with further revelations about condition for members in Portlaoise prison . Subversive prisoners have painted “huge murals” on walls within the jail according to the trade union’s deputy general secretary Eugene Dennehy . Mr Denehy also revealed that subversive prisoners are not subject to search by sniffer dogs in the jail .
A spokesman for Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said the claims by the POA were "outlandish" and hinted to Irish Times reporters that the POA demands might be motivated by recent changes in work practices in Portlaoise which may have affected prison officers’ overtime payments.
Mr Dennehy however stressed that the double standards shown towards dissidents were of genuine concern to his members many of whom are alarmed at dissident subversive groups parading in the jail . He told reporters on Friday , “These are very serious matters and that’s why we’re calling on the Minister to get involved”.