JOSEPH MAGUIRE is 27 years old, married with two young children. He spent three and a half years on the blanket, and was released on 25 January this year.
Because he was a short-term prisoner, he served the first fifteen months of his sentence in Crumlin Road Prison, When the blanket men in Crumlin Road joined the 'no slop out' protest they were transferred to the H Blocks at Long Kesh.
Here Joseph Maguire talks to three members of the Troops Out Movement about his experiences.
The degrading search, which he describes in horrific detail, still continues. The authorities have now added insult to injury by offering as an 'alternative' to search visits in special partitioned box, which prisoners separated relatives by perspex screen: the blanket men are refusing such visits, regarding them as an attempt to degrade their visitors as well as themselves.
Socialist Challenge proud " 10 publish remarkable account of the ways in which Republican prisoners are resisting all the attempts of the authorities to them.
I WAS brought into reception at Crumlin Road and given the prison clothes. eased la them. sidered myself to be a political prisoner and not a criminal. I think it's obvious to everybody that the Six Counties in Ireland are being occupied, as were the Twenty Six Counties before the Treaty. Wife On that same day a prison officer came to me in the reception and said, 'Your wife's here LONGEVI and VOUS ONLOC said, 'Dead on'. He says, have to wear prison clothes'. I refused to wear them therefore I was denied my visit.
So i never saw mv wite on the day I was sentenced. This is a thing that is granted to every prisoner when they are sentenced - a committal visit, it's called.
So I was brought into B Wing and put into a cell, and my clothes were taken off me, the prison uniform was sent in, and a baker Do t out lne blanket on myself.
And out the back, I noticed it right away, there was a heavy droning sound. This was a big boiler house, right behind these cells. This constant drone was going on all the time, and if you tried to shout to someone in another cell, or out of the door, you could never make out what they were saying. It was very monotonous, very penetrating.
That night I found out there was another two men pothe aket in this wing. I eventually found out that there were three cells between each one of were isolated, one man to a cell.
So they came with my tea, and that night again they came incy openca me door and said, 'Sop out'. This means you lift your chamber pot and your water gallon, and you go Wing, down and empty your pot and fill your water gallon.
Well, I was going to do this with the blanket on me, but the prison officer stopped me and said, "Take the blanket off'. 1 didn't know says, 'Take the blanket off. You chose not to wear prison cotnes and not to do work, so any time you step out of that cell, you'll step out naked. You'll go to the slophouse naked. You'll go to the Governaked. you'll go naked.
So this lasted every day I was there.
the a. Abuse Every days we the Governor their punishment prison regulations. were going up the wing, was always a full criminals who were going out LO WOrK You just had to walk right is through all these people, nakLed. There was abuse from the this criminals, and from the the break CC thing conthe prison 'You and Mass. no material, cigarettes, radio, sometimes in't get. pletely other.
Protest Well, that was for fifteen months I was in the Crumlin on my own in a cell.
The Block escalated to 'no slop out'. . heard about this and we decided ourselves that we would carry this out; that we would followshe H Block protest and refuse to slop out.
So we refused to slop out and we were transferred from the Crum straight to H3.
When we arrived at the Blocks, there was a wing move completely what to do. He prison Anywhere at all Square, London WC1.
went for When you there wing of HIGH other, so that they could clean the dirty wing.
pect. They opened my door and always abuse the card that sits outside your gave me my celt card ornicers. cell, it gives details name, your age, religion, your sentence. As soon as you take that your blanket's drawn off you, and you're grabbed by the hair and arms up your back, and run up the wing. called Circle when 1 wing, and the crossbar is the centre of the block, and that's water called the Circle. That's where the doctor and the POs' office, welfare, everything is the heart of the building. You must cross this Circle to get to the other side of the block. So if you were being moved from one wing to the other side of the block, you have to go through the Circle.
were going through the Circle and I was run up the wing. All the prison officers were wearing reading and no hats.
no the wing another two prison ofmonth ficers took me and run me in YUu the same fashion into the Circle. each screws. They were all standing round a small table. They said 'Bend over it.' wanted me to bend my body over the table with my arms out. I refused.
I then felt my wrists being taken and my ankles.
protest naked and I felt myself being lifted up in the air, and I endec up in a horizontal position as if I was flying. And my two legs were pulled apart. I thought I was gullig to felt. it in my hips, they pulled apart so wide that it was really painful. were pulled from me, as if I was being stretched. And then 1 felt ands at my backside you.
about you things They ground seven other Labour MPs put hidden.
joke.
There back passage with his. taran •moD, down and slapped me about, weren't a kicking me and abusing me.
They like abusing you about person, your wife.
This seems to be a favourite.
They say the worst things that humiliated they can say about your wife. It's'usually sex, something that they think will really bother They even make references that they have been with your wife, and they'll be with her tonight. 'We'll laugh tonight.' There's I wouldn't repeat, would be embarrassed if I was to say them to vou now you on the spreadeagled, your arms in the air. And they search under your armpits, they search between your fingers, search your hair, search your ears, search your mouth, and they their finger into your mouth, to search behind your lips to see if you've anything They search the soles of your feet, between your toes. They all stand and say whatever they want to say - it's a great was big outcry about this table search procedure that they were carrying out, so they changed it to the mirror search. The same again: you were run up the wing, run to the Circle, the same squad was there to meet you. The impression I used to get was, it was just like going into a sec. so because titude of them was as if you just being.
It was as if you weren't a you were just something to be teased about, something to be abused and torch down lips.
And when arrived at the Circle they had this mirror sitting in the middle of the Circle, a standard-size mirror like you would see in a public toilet. Maybe it's about 10 or 12 inches broad, 18 inches long. It's lying on the ground, there's no frame or anything.
There were two bits of tape on each side of this, and you put your feet on these. That left you in the position that your legs were apart, over the mirror, and the mirror was just directly between your legs.
So then they said to you, "Squat'. They wanted you to squat down onto your hunkers, that back passage would be open and it would be directly over this mirror, so that they could have a good view Well, this you refused to do because I don't think personal. ly that anybody would openly squat down to be searched like Kidneys They then started to punch you, mainly round the body, and the back of the kidneys, and at the back of the head. At times they'd punch you in the face. There was men got their nose broke, black eyes When they see that. you're not going to go down, two will parison officers wear heavy duty take your wrists, and boots - they'll then kick you and they kick your ass, they'll kick they're kicking a ball and trying to score a goal At times my legs have flew right out and I've landed on the Men have landed on this mirror and it has broke and they ve received cuts on their backsides. were getting moved once a week and the backs of our legs were per manently black and blue.
When they have you down for a length of time, they shine big torch on your back passage. One would shine and another would get and pull at your back maybe put a pencil in, poke with tweezers, and mayb put his finger right into your backside and search it It's a terrible feeling. And then the finger that they've us ed to search your back passage, they've mouths to search behind thei men's Next Week: Joseph Maguin tells what it's like on visitin day at the H Black, and how the prisoners leamed Gadd