Loyalism in Development

Weekend Orderlies • Two orderlies will be detailed duties every weekend (Saturday and Sunday) on a rota basis; • All orderly duties are to be attended just as permanent orderlies; • Any doubts about duties see the hut Sergeant; • Tea bags and sugar rations to be distributed every Sunday – seven tea bags per man per day, one pound of sugar per man per week (2lb bag per cubicle); • Centre of hut to be brushed and mopped out last every night. All volunteers must assist the orderlies in keeping the hut clean and tidy. Despite the harsh conditions (in terms of poor food, standards of health etc.) and the fact that prisoners were meant to be restricted in relation to communicating with one another, former loyalist prisoners have spoken of their sense of camaraderie and comradeship in prison (Green, 1998; Smith, 2014). Education classes and lectures were also promoted, as were sporting activities so that prisoners could occupy their time and retain a degree of physical fitness. The production of handicrafts also became a very important practice for many prisoners, with woodcraft and leather work becoming particularly significant (Hinson, 2017). Although the leaderships of the various loyalist and republican paramilitaries had agreed to a ‘no conflict’ policy in Crumlin Road jail at the outbreak of the ‘Troubles, and a ‘Camp Council’ was formed in Long Kesh to involve dialogue between the various leaderships to reduce incidents of violence and encourage lobbying on common points of interest to all prisoners – the October 1974 burning down of most of Long Kesh by republican inmates worsened relations between the factions (loyalist compounds 11, 12 and 19 were relatively unscathed). Segregation between loyalist and republican inmates was unsurprisingly increased after the fire. But even more significant was the decision by the British Government in November 1975 to end ‘Special Category’ status and introduce the policy of ‘criminalisation’ – this was implemented after the 1975 Gardiner report. Although it meant that internment without trial was abandoned, from March 1st 1976, anyone convicted of a ‘terror’ offence would be treated in the same way as all other prisoners; therefore, prisoners were compelled to work and to wear a prison uniform like ‘ordinary decent criminals’ (ODCs). The British Government were thus now refusing to recognise any form of political status (McEvoy, 1998). In order to implement this new policy in 1976, a new high security facility known as the Maze Prison was opened in March of that year next to the Long Kesh site. The new prison contained eight identical cell blocks, in the shape of the letter ‘H’ (hence they became known as the H-blocks). The decision by the British Government to end their recognition of political status (of loyalists and republicans) would

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