NONE of the six prisoners involved in the two day siege at Mountjoy Prison appeared to have a clear idea of what they were doing.
Asked what prompted the seizure of hostages in the Separation Unit on Saturday, a senior official said that, for all anyone knew, the inmates - might as well have been inspired by television coverage of the siege in the Japanese Embassy in Peru.
Three of the men were heroin addicts so the threat of a blood filled syringe was sufficient threat to mount a fullscale hostage negotiation situation. It became, in fact, the worst hostage crisis in the history of the prison service.
As part of the negotiation procedure, officials must treat the prisoners demands seriously. It was agreed that a press release stating their "demands" would be issued.
On Sunday afternoon, the Department of Justice published the men's "demands".
Four prisoners also wanted their names publicised and this was done on the 3 p.m. Sky Television news.
Mr Paul Ward, who faces a conspiracy charge in relation to the murder of journalist, Veronica Guerin, claimed he wanted his innocence known.
The other named men - Eddie Ferncombe (24) who is in prison for stabbing to death a young Mormon missionary, Warren Dumbrell (22) an addict robber, and Joseph Cooper (26) who accidentally shot himself while kidnapping a former criminal associate claimed they were ill treated and wanted to be moved from Mountjoy.
The two who remained unnamed, Edward Seery and Stephen Galvin, both armed robbers, appear to have played, minor roles.
Ferncombe and Dumbrell are regarded as two of the most troublesome prisoners in the entire prison system. At the outset, Dumbrell acted as spokesman and then appeared to withdraw. The men began making demands on their own behalf. It had seemed Mr Ward was ringleader but this was later found to be untrue.
The first 10 hours of any siege are regarded as the most dangerous but this period and most of Sunday passed off relatively peacefully.
But the six prisoners in the unit were so unpredictable and unorganised that concern grew yesterday that they were becoming more dangerous.
Conditions in the recreation room were becoming difficult although food was supplied along with regular methadone.
According to sources, the six began to lose heart last evening. They were assured that the allegations of ill treatment would be investigated and internal inquiries, overseen by visiting committee members, would take place.
But they now face questioning and charges relating to the false imprisonment and assault of the officers.
The men are also likely to continue their sentences in high security units.