THE IRISH IN PRISON - A TIGHTER NICK FOR THE MICKS

In this paper the distinctive experiences of the Irish in prison are e xplored against the background of gradual moves towards peace talks fo llowing the Downing Street Declaration. It is argued that any success in the development of the peace process could, and should, be matched by a reduction in the emphasis on high security accommodation in the p rison system raising the possibility of a return to the options recomm ended by the Control Review Committee in 1984. On the basis of qualita tive data the experiences of 'terrorists' or 'political' prisoners are compared with those of 'ordinary decent criminals' and with represent atives of the latter whom British criminal justice had mistaken for th e former. Perceptions that Irish prisoners enjoy closer family relatio nships but experience greater supervision and control measures than no n-Irish prisoners receive some confirmation from the statistical analy sis of questionnaire responses and a comparison of matched pairs of pr isoners.