PRISON officers and officials came and went from Mountjoy all day yesterday but there was little indication of what was going on inside.
A strong Garda force manned the main entrance on the North Circular Road but, apart from some members of the special detective unit who entered during the day, the gardai were confined to a supporting role in the drama. "The prison officers and the Department of Justice are dealing with it," a spokesman said. "We'll only go in if they lose control of the situation."
One of the early morning visitors to the prison was former Fine Gael TD Ms Nuala Fennell. When she left at around noon, she drove away without comment. A Church of Ireland chaplain also paid a brief visit.
Otherwise, most of the traffic was routine prison business and unconnected with the hostage crisis. A large force of prison officers spilling out of the prison just before 1 p.m. inspired a brief flurry of media interest, but the cause turned out to be nothing other than lunchtime.
As the day dragged on and the cold began to bite, gardai and press alike were seeking clues to the likely end of the saga, but few were forthcoming.
Speaking late in the afternoon - almost 24 hours after the incident began - one prison source said that negotiators still had little idea what the prisoners wanted. While the operation appeared to be have been very well planned the demands were "all silly stuff - curry sauce and blankets and then more curry sauce".
The source said the main spokesman for the group was articulate and well versed in negotiating procedures. "He has all the lingo. It's amazing, it's as if he did our own course in hostage negotiation."
By yesterday evening, the atmosphere surrounding the negotiations was said to be very tense. The prisoners who were drug addicts had physeptone administered to them on Saturday, but they were getting a little fraught.
Just after 5 p.m., three men in plain clothes arrived by foot at the prison entrance, announcing themselves as officials of the Department of Justice. Shortly before 7 p.m., three others left, carrying documents. Neither group would make any comment.
