Irish Independent
DUBLIN, Ireland — A GROUP of senior prison officers have been forced to tighten up their personal security after they learned they were under threat from associates of jailed crime boss John Gilligan.
Staff at two of the country’s biggest jails, Mountjoy and the Midlands prison in Portlaoise, alerted the authorities after learning of the threats.
They are alleged to have been made by criminals linked to Gilligan, who is currently being held in a segregation unit at the maximum security prison in Portlaoise.
Gilligan was placed in the unit last week as a disciplinary measure after telling other inmates on his jail landing to ignore instructions from staff about a fire drill.
While on “solitary” in the special unit, Gilligan is locked up 22 hours a day and confined to two hour-long exercises in the yard on his own.
He is also denied privileges such as visits and parcels, is refused association with other prisoners, and is not allowed out of his cell for normal recreation.
Last night, senior garda officers confirmed that talks had been held with the prison authorities over the alleged threats since the intelligence was reported last Friday.
But they said that the status of the intelligence was still being assessed and further inquiries were being made.
The reports did not specify any prison officer by name but indicated that staff in a higher rank would be targeted. “We are not sure how active these threats are, but they are being checked out fully,” one senior garda said.
In the meantime, senior prison officials have advised staff of the targeted rank that they should take extra care about their personal safety.
The threats are alleged to be a response from the criminal underworld to a prison clampdown on Gilligan and other notorious offenders.
The crackdown has been in operation since May when a large amount of prison contraband, including drugs, alcohol, mobile phones, and two budgies, were discovered in jail cell searches, mainly on Portlaoise’s EI landing, which houses most of the gangland offenders.
Also confiscated w a number of plasma widescreen TV sets -- one of which was located in Gilligan’s cell.
Gilligan is serving a 20-year sentence for drug trafficking after being named as the boss of a crime gang responsible for the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin in June 1996.
Copyright 2008 Independent News and Media Ltd.