Prison authorities in the North say an investigation is under way into Tuesday night's violence inside Maghaberry prison, Co Antrim. Nineteen remand prisoners barricaded themselves into a recreation room in Foyle wing and set fire to several cells.
A prison service representative said the violence had lasted about 90 minutes and was caused by a small band of "troublemakers" rather than by any organised group within the prison. Damage to the recreation room was substantial but not widespread, he said, and those responsible would be "disciplined".
However, in a phone call from Maghaberry yesterday, a prisoner in Foyle House accused prison authorities of "deliberately suppressing the facts" of Tuesday night's violence.
The prisoner alleged that the prison authorities were to blame, saying that for some time, remand prisoners had been subjected to a 23-hour daily lock-up regime.
One visitor to the prison yesterday said there appeared to be insufficient officers on duty to run the prison efficiently, and that prisoners were complaining of being locked in their cells because of a shortfall of prison officers on duty.
Mr Finlay Spratt of the Prison Officers Association called for the staffing problem at Maghaberry to be addressed urgently.
He said: "To be quite honest, unless something is done, I could not see it getting any better in the short term."