Éamon Ó Cuív condemns repeated strip-searching of republican prisoners
Éamon Ó Cuív raised concerns about repeated strip-searching of five male Republican prisoners on remand in Roe House in MacGabrie Prison, calling the practice unnecessary, degrading and targeted. He urged urgent representations to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and to the British Prime Minister to stop the treatment.
Allegations of repeated strip-searching
Ó Cuív said five male Republican prisoners on remand in Roe House in MacGabrie Prison are being strip-searched twice a day and brought to and from court, resulting in more than a hundred "strip searchers" or "footballish searches" over a 12-day period. He told colleagues the prison authorities have the technology to obviate the necessity of such searches and described the practice as unnecessary and purposely degrading.
Discrimination and human rights concerns
He argued the treatment appears to be directed solely against Republicans and conflicts with decent human rights codes. He contrasted the treatment with two women co-accused in Hydebank, who he said are not being subjected to the same searches.
Request for urgent representations
Ó Cuív asked the Tánaiste to give urgent assurances that representations would be made to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and to the British Prime Minister, noting hearings are ongoing day after day and that immediate action was required to stop what he called barbaric treatment.
Response from the Tánaiste's office
The Tánaiste thanked the Deputy for raising the matter, said it was an issue new to him and requested further details. He invited Ó Cuív to pass information to his office, the Taoiseach's office or the Minister for Foreign Affairs' office and said he would ensure the matter is raised with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland as a matter of urgency.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
So I would like to raise a very serious issue with you, and that is the fact that five male Republican prisoners who are on remand in Roe House in MacGabrie Prison are being strip searched twice a day and being brought to and from court. And that means over a hundred strip searchers, as they call in the jargon, footballish searches, being carried out on these men over a 12-day period. Now the prison authorities have the technology to obviate the necessity of doing this. I believe it is unnecessary and purposely degrading treatment and conflicts with any decent human rights codes, and seems to be directly solely against Republicans. It is also worth noting that two women co-accused prisoners in Hydebank are thankfully, and very thankfully, not being subjected to this treatment. Can you assure me, Tanish, that urgent, and I mean urgent, representations, because these hearings are going on day after day, will be made to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and to the British Prime Minister, to stop this barbaric treatment from happening? I just want to thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is an issue I am not familiar with, so it is new to me, but if the Deputy wants to pass on some more details, either to my office, or the Taoiseach's office, or the Minister for Foreign Affairs' office, we will make sure that it is raised with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland as a matter of urgency. Thank you very much.
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
