ABSTRACT
The Northern Ireland conflict spilled over the border and presented the Irish state with major political, legal and security challenges. Its penal estate had insufficient capacity and provided inadequate levels of security. When a section of its largest prison was destroyed by rioting, it began a search for alternative accommodation. Prison staffing, suitable for a low-crime society, had to be supported by the military, both to protect the prisons from outside attack and to provide custodial staff for the highest-risk prisoners’ categories. Portlaoise Prison was upgraded and given armed protection, and the Military Detention Barracks at the Curragh was cleared for civil use. Paramilitary prisoners campaigned for POW status but had already been granted a comparatively liberal regime. That, and the unquestioned electoral legitimacy of the Irish state, ensured that protests never gained the following they achieved in Northern Ireland.
