The Five Demands

Councillor demands men are moved to Roe 4 immediately (RSF)

Four men from Dungannon who recently embarked on a protest in Maghaberry Prison have requested they are moved to Roe 4 Republican Wing immediately. Brothers, Thomas and Desmond Hamill, Martin Mc Gilloway and Austin Creggan have been accepted by Roe 4 prisoners.

These men embarked on a protest initially, of refusing prison food, due to threats…
and tampering of food by loyalist prisoners, which then progressed to a full hunger strike. During this protest the men lost large amounts of weight and were seen by the prison nurse every day, who weighed them, took urine samples and provided them with dental care.

The families of these men contacted “The Families and Friends Of Republican Prisoners Maghaberry” group who felt that independent mediation was required to resolve this life threatening situation quickly. Independent Republican Councillors Angela Nelson and Padraig Mc Shane and representatives of the group met with the families on Friday 21st September in Belfast. The families informed us that Dessie and Austin came off their protest as they were informed they were accepted by Roe 4 prisoners whilst Martin and Tommy remained on hunger strike awaiting further clarification. The families gave us permission to act on their behalf and we requested the men stopped the hunger strike immediately to give us the space to address the issues. The two men ended their protest after speaking to family members on Saturday evening 22nd September.

A visit was arranged for Tuesday 25th September with Martin Mc Gilloway and Thomas Hamill. Independent Republican Councillor Angela Nelson, Mandy Duffy and a family member visited the two men in Maghaberry and after speaking with us and being reassured they were now Roe 4 prisoners, the men were very upbeat and content. These men will need time to recover physically from this protest, and their fight to be transferred to Roe 4 to be with fellow Republican prisoners will continue. Councillor Angela Nelson said she will continue to work on their behalf until this situation is resolved.

Statement from Republican Prisoners Roe 4, Maghaberry. 26.09.12

Roe 4 Republican prisoners Maghaberry have been monitoring for some time now the case of Thomas and Desmond Hamill, Martin Mc Gilloway and Austin Creggan from Dugannan who embarked on a hunger-strike for the right to be moved onto the Republican wing in Maghaberry.
Representatives of Roe 4 Republican prisoners have had a number of meetings with the families of these 4 men and made the suggestion that Independent Councillors be asked to attend these meetings to help resolve the situation. The Independent Councillors were only to happy to attend and agreed to work alongside the families to seek a resolution.
At a very early stage the 4 men and their families were informed that Roe 4 Republican prisoners had accepted the 4 men onto the wing as Republican prisoners.
The administration of Maghaberry were told by Roe 4 prisoners to move the 4 men over to the republican wing. Within days the administration informed Roe 4 prisoners that these men would not be moved over to Roe 4 as a threat was in place against them from another group of Republican prisoners.
Thomas, Desmond, Martin and Austin were advised to end their hunger-strike to allow space to address the decision taken by the administration to deny them their right to be on a Republican wing.
These men are not under threat from any prisoner on Roe 4 and we call on the administration of Maghaberry to move these men over onto Roe 4 immediately.
Republican Prisoners, Roe 4, Maghaberry.