Among the loyalist prisoner the Northern Ireland Secretary will meet in the Maze Prison, four stand out for their hardline views and the influence they command beyond the jail's walls.

Mo Mowlam has met some of them previously, when she went to the Maze as Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary in October 1996.

The murder of the Loyalist Volunteer Force leader Billy Wright inside the prison in December 1997 precipitated the current crisis.

Inside the Maze prison

The most notorious of the inmates Ms Mowlam intends to meet is Michael Stone, 42, the perpetrator of the Milltown Cemetery massacre.

Stone killed three people and injured more than 60 at the 1988 funeral of three IRA men who had been shot by the SAS in Gibraltar.

Armed with a Ruger pistol, a Browning automatic and a homemade satchel full of handgrenades, Stone carried out the lone attack in a west Belfast cemetery.

Witnesses at his trial, where he was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison, described how Stone had shouted "Come and get me" while lobbing grenades into the crowd of mourners. One man was shot dead as he attempted to tackle Stone through a hail of bullets.

When Stone was arrested he demanded to know how many people he had killed. When he was told the death toll amounted to "at least two" he replied: "Brilliant."

Michael Stone: received life for triple murder

However, Stone did not fit the typical profile of a loyalist paramilitary. He had attempted to join the east Belfast "brigade" of the Ulster Defence Association but had been rejected because he was suspected of being involved in drugs and being unreliable.

At the time of his trial, one source told The Independent newspaper: "He seemed a loner, he didn't want to work with anybody. The UDA just didn't want him."

But Stone has since become a member of the UDA's four-strong "camp council".

The leader of the UDA inside the Maze is Sam McCrory, another prisoner Ms Mowlam will meet. He is serving 16 years for attempted murder.

On Monday, McCrory called the BBC from the prison on his mobile phone. He said: "We don't want to play second fiddle to Sinn Fein or the IRA. We want to be treated equally. If the Government gives concessions to republicans, you must give them to loyalists also."

John "Mad Dog" Adair: led the Ulster Freedom Fighters

The loyalist ceasefire, he added, was "more shaky than ever".

Another key prisoner inside the jail is John "Mad Dog" Adair, 33, a former leader of the Ulster Freedom Fighters. Alongside Stone, he is one of the men Ms Mowlam met on her previous visit.

Adair is serving a 16-year sentence passed in 1995 for leading the illegal paramilitary organisation, as well as a concurrent seven-year term for membership of a banned group. As UFF commander, he presided over a three-year reign of terror in Northern Ireland, which only abated with his arrest in 1994.

A father of three, Adair married in the prison, where a reception was held, last February.

Billy Wright's murder inside the prison was a catalyst for the crisis

The final member of the core group of four whom Ms Mowlam will meet is Billy Adams, 38, a member of the UDA. He was sentenced to between 10 and 12 years in prison after two sub-machine guns and balaclavas were found in his car in 1994.

While out of the Maze on parole over Christmas, he said: "We want to see our political party making progress but they are being pushed aside. They do not seem to be making any progress no matter how hard they try."

It is a view Ms Mowlam will have to work hard to change.
 

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