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Daily Ireland
April 20, 2006
Easter lily inmate punished
Republican on jail's punishment block refuses food and water
A republican prisoner in a Co Antrim jail has been refusing food and
water after being thrown into the prison's punishment unit for wearing
an Easter lily.
Belfast man Terry McCafferty refused food and water yesterday after
officials at Maghaberry Prison sentenced him to several days in the
prison's punishment block.
Known as the Special Supervision Unit by prison authorities and "the
boards" by inmates, the punishment unit is the only part of the
high-security prison not covered by closed-circuit television.
A second prisoner who wore an Easter lily, Paddy O'Mahoney, had his
transfer to the punishment block delayed yesterday.
It is understood the Co Cork man is considering making an application
through his legal representatives for a judicial review into the
prison service's decision to punish him.
Both men were confined to their cells at Roe House last Sunday after
trying to enter the main prison wing while wearing Easter lilies.
The men were forced to go without food for two days after refusing to
remove the lilies before entering the wing.
The men's solicitor, John Finucane of Kevin Winters and Company, said:
"We would have major concerns about the development and we are dealing
with it.
"We have consulted with both the men. A letter was dispatched to the
prison authorities, the prison governor and the NIO expressing our
concerns and we have yet to receive a formal response.
"At this stage, we are considering legal remedies to protest the
privileges and rights of the men."
Paddy Murray of the Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association
blasted the decision to punish the men for wearing Easter lilies.
"It's unacceptable in this day and age. In Dublin, people wore Easter
lilies to last weekend's commemoration. Is the only place in the 32
counties that you can't wear an Easter lily Maghaberry jail?
"It is accepted that people can wear the poppy and the shamrock but
not an Easter lily. Prison staff wear a poppy for almost a month, so
where is the parity of esteem here? It is important that people know
that this is going on and this is not something that finished with the
blocks.
"There were 26 people on the wing with lilies but these two men were
singled out for special treatment. It's a segregated wing so there
aren't even any loyalists on it."
A spokesperson for the prison service said the men were being punished
for a "breach of standing order 13/11 for wearing an Easter lily
outside their cell".
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