The Northern Ireland Office has insisted that the decision of Mr Martin Mogg to stand down as governor of the Maze Prison is not related to the murder of Billy Wright in the prison and the escape of an IRA prisoner, Liam Averill.
There were calls for Mr Mogg's resignation after these incidents at Christmas, when he came in for fierce criticism from unionist politicians. But the North's Prison Service said Mr Mogg's appointment, taken up last October, was always intended to be temporary.
He had been filling the dual role of Maze governor and the more senior position of head of operational management of the Northern prison service. Mr Mogg said after the INLA murder of Billy Wright that he felt he could no longer perform his two functions effectively.