A "Real IRA" prisoner has gone on hunger strike in Portlaoise prison in protest at a decision not to grant him compassionate parole. Danny McAlister (46) from Belfast began refusing food on New Year's Day.
He claimed this was because of the authorities' continuing refusal to grant him compassionate parole to visit his sick mother and his brother, who is suffering from leukaemia. McAlister is serving eight years for an attempted robbery near Ashford, Co Wicklow, in May 1998, when a "Real IRA" member, Ronan Mac Lochlainn, was shot dead.
The 32 County Sovereignty Movement, which security sources say is the "Real IRA's" political wing, said it was supporting his protest and called on the Government to end its "discrimination policy" against "Real IRA" prisoners.
A Department of Justice spokesman said: "Each individual application for temporary release is decided on its own merits. It would be misleading to say no `Real IRA' prisoner has been granted temporary release."
The Sovereignty Movement said the Minister, Mr O'Donoghue, was refusing to state the criteria for compassionate parole and his reasons for refusing McAlister's requests.
A spokesman for the movement said: "This extreme action by Danny McAlister has been forced by the Dublin Government's discrimination policy. There has been a long tradition of granting compassionate parole down through the decades."