There is further embarrassment for Justice Minister Dermot Ahern this evening after it emerged that a paramilitary flag is being flown at Ireland’s maximum security prison.

Just days after it was claimed that terrorist prisoners had a free reign and were living in luxury, inmates are now flying their flags from the jail.

The Herald can reveal that the image was taken at Portlaoise Prison last Saturday afternoon, as supporters of dissident republican prisoners in the jail staged a protest on the roadway outside the facility.

The ‘Starry Plough’ is used by the INLA and their political wing, the IRSP, since the terror group’s foundation in the 1970s. The INLA is an illegal organisation and its military displays are banned.

Opposition spokesman for Justice Charles Flanagan has called on the Minister for Justice to clarify if he has now softened his stance on on terrorist prisoners.

“There is no formal recognition of political status in Irish prisons, so has the Justice Minister departed from long-standing positionof his predecessors?” asked Mr Flanagan.

The flag was waved from a cell window, believed to be on the paramilitary E3 wing of the prison, as supporters played music and blew whistles outside the prison. A tricolour was also displayed, from another window.

The group, of around 50 people, was monitored by members of the garda's Special Detective Unit during the protest.

The display occurred days after prison officers claimed, at their annual conference, that Republican inmates at Portlaoise are permitted to hold paramilitary parades, paint murals on wing walls, and order steak dinners.

POA deputy general secretary Eugene Dennehy also revealed people visiting dissident inmates did not have to undergo searching by sniffer dogs, unlike prison officers.

PARADES

"Parades are taking place against a backdrop of painted murals like those you see on the gable walls in West Belfast," he claimed.

"A dirty protest is still going on after almost a month and the conditions in which our members have to work are absolutely horrific.

"I don't believe there is another worker in the country today who would tolerate such conditions," he added.

The flag image was openly posted on a Republican website this week, shortly after the protest.

The gathering was organised by a group called the Irish Republican Prisoners' Welfare Association, which is linked to the 32 Country Sovereignty Movement, the political wing of the Real IRA.

RIRA and INLA prisoners share the E3 landing in the prison and six RIRA inmates have staged a no-wash protest at the jail in recent weeks, claiming that temporary releases have been cut at the jail.

Fine Gael justice spokesman Charlie Flanagan commented: "There is no place for such activity in prisons. These men are serving sentences for serious offences, and are giving two fingers to the system."

The Department of Justice did not respond when contacted by the Herald about the display. The Irish Prison Service also did not comment on the incident.

IPS director general Brian Purcell has previously defended the regime at Portlaoise, but confirmed that the groups did hold "fall out" marches, had murals on the walls, and their visitors were not searched for operational reasons.

The dirty protest is now in its 31st day at the jail. It was sparked off by a Department directive refusing temporary release for prisoners in the dissident group.

Prison sources said today that the situation is worsening by the day.

CONDITIONS

"The conditions in which we are working are deplorable. This is going on now for a month and the cells have not been cleaned," on officer said.

The prison source said that Prison Service management's claim that the ordering in of steaks and other food by prisoners happened only two or three times a year was false.

"It is going on nearly every day and the situation is that industrial relations here are at an all time low," the source added.

The Starry Plough was originally used by the Irish labour movement, but adopted by the INLA in the 1970s.

- Cormac Looney and Charlie Mallon