Surge In Assaults On Prison Guards By Inmates At Women's Jail
A special unit is being set up to house the country's most violent inmates.
It comes as there's a massive increase in the number of attacks on prison officers at the Dochas women's jail at Mountjoy after the number of assaults went up from 5 in 2015 to 26 in 2016.
Prison officers say they need more batons to combat violent assaults by inmates and they are also calling pepper spray and extra body armour.
The Prison Officers Association will discuss the problems at its annual conference later.
Its President Stephen Delaney says they'll be asking for harsher convictions for those found guilty of attacks on prison guards.
He said: "Unfortunately prisoners in custody can be very inventive and can make all sorts of weapons and the reality is we need a deterrent for our staff. Two years ago we called for consecutive sentences where a conviction of assault has been established by authorities."
He added: "We fully support our sister organisation the GRA in calling for mandatory sentences for assaults on staff."
Prison authorities expect to open a Violent and Disruptive Prisoner Unit by September or October.