The gates at Maghaberry prison
A loyalist protest and a messy land row shut down Maghaberry Prison last weekend, we can reveal.
Over 200 loyalists - including a flute band - blocked the main entrance for two hours last Sunday afternoon.
They were protesting over conditions of loyalist prisoners inside the jail claiming they are treated less favourably than republican prisoners.
But a legal dispute with a local farmer over land at the back of the jail meant staff were unable to
exit out the back door either - effectively meaning the whole jail was on lockdown.
Visits were cancelled and extra security measures were brought in although the protest went off peacefully.
Last Saturday Prison Service officials started clearing the back road out of the Co Antrim jail with a digger but police were called when land owner Stephen Boyes protested.
Boyes owns hundreds of acres of land around the jail after doing a
land deal with the Prison Service in 1998.
But the Prison Service made a huge error when selling the land off because they failed to leave themselves a right of way through the land meaning they don’t have a suitable emergency exit.
“The Prison Service were in a bit of a pickle last Sunday,” said a source.
“Maghaberry is the country's maximum security prison but it was effectively land locked last Sunday.
“It's all very embarrassing for the Prison Service.”
Loyalists gathered outside the jail at around 3pm. Among the protesters was PUP member Ken Wilkinson who addressed the crowd.
The number of loyalists serving sentences there has exploded since the flag protests with dozens being handed short sentences.
Loyalists have been complaining that they are forced to share cramped cells while republicans in Roe House are afforded a much better regime.