Both useful and funny... Surge in drugs and violence at Castlerea Prison after IRA releases Ali Bracken, Crime Correspondent MAJOR security concerns have arisen in the Grove area of Castlerea Prison as it is no longer controlled by the provisional IRA following the release of several political prisoners. The killers of garda Jerry McCabe – Pearse McAuley and Kevin Walsh – were released in August and had been "ruling the roost" at the Grove prior to that. In the past 12 months, several other political prisoners have been released from the jail. The Grove was once tightly controlled by IRA inmates, who did not permit drugs and controlled all violence. But several prisoners from the "normal prison population" are now being housed at the Grove and drug use has become widespread, as have acts of violence. A prison source said there were security concerns for prison officers in the Grove area. McAuley and Walsh previously maintained a semblance of order among inmates and nothing happened "without their say so". The Grove area of the prison is a low-security section where prisoners live in two-storey accommodation. The two IRA prisoners lived in their own house, which would normally accommodate up to nine inmates. "I suppose everyone had gotten used to the situation whereby the IRA controlled that area of the prison and they did keep order there. They were very anti-drugs, none were permitted at all. They ran a tight ship. Now they've gone and the dynamic has totally changed in the Grove," said the source. "It is going to have to be managed, we need to bring this situation under control." October 25, 2009 http://www.tribune.ie/news/home-news...rea-prison-af/
