High Court ruling on prison dispute

Police were called in to help with security at Magilligan Prison

The government has taken out a court injunction to stop prison officers going on strike.

A judge in the High Court in Belfast granted the application made on Thursday in the name of Northern Ireland's Secretary of State Paul Murphy.

It restrains the Prison Officers Association from "inducing its members to withdraw their services".

On Thursday morning, the police were called in to help with security at a County Londonderry jail after prison officers left their posts.

The action by staff, who walked out of Magilligan prison, was in protest at a routine meeting of the Prison Service Management Board which was due to take place at the jail.

All visits to the prison have been cancelled and inmates have been locked in their cells.

The officers' union is involved in a long-running dispute with management over security for staff at their homes.

Director General of the Prison Service, Peter Russell, described the latest action at Magilligan as "disgraceful".

"No matter what the point of dispute there can be no excuse for such dereliction of duty," he said.

The action is the latest in a long-running dispute over security

"Prison officers have a duty of care to persons in their charge which they are neglecting.

"Modern industrial relations should be conducted through discussion and negotiation not ultimatums and coercion."

The protest is the latest action by staff at the province's three prisons.

Last week, hundreds of prison officers failed to report for duty at Magilligan, Maghaberry Prison in County Antrim and Hydebank Young Offenders Centre on the outskirts of Belfast.

All inmates were locked in their cells and police officers were called in to help with security during the unofficial dispute.

The union dismissed a recent meeting with the Prisons Minister Jane Kennedy as "a waste of time".

Recently, dozens of cells were wrecked during trouble at the high security Maghaberry jail.

In September, a review of safety at Maghaberry recommended separating republican and loyalist prisoners.

The move was being introduced in the wake of violent clashes between rival groups in the jail and in the face of a "dirty protest" by a group of dissident republican prisoners.

As well as paramilitary prisoners, Maghaberry houses male and female prisoners, whether they are convicted or on remand, and a number of asylum seekers.