05/11/2015 BBC Newsline

Good evening. The government's chief inspector of prisons has described

the high security Maghaberry jail as the most dangerous he has ever set

foot in. An inspection report describes the jail as unsafe,

unstable and in a state of crisis. Inspectors said they had real

concerns that if the issues identified were not addressed as a

matter of urgency, there could be serious disorder or loss of life.

Our Home Affairs Correspondent Vincent Kearney reports.

Maghaberry Prison was built to hold Northern Ireland's

But the prison itself is now considered a dangerous place.

We inspect about 40 prisons a year and I have

This is the most dangerous prison I have been into throughout my time

There have been many reports criticising prisons here

This inspection carried out in May 2015

was undoubtedly the most concerning of all the reports published to date

A team of more than 20 inspectors spent two weeks in Maghaberry Prison

in May and they assess the prison's performance against for

in May and they assess the prison's performance against four

In three areas, safety, respect, and activity,

When it came to the fourth area, resettlement, they described

Maghaberry Prison.had become unsafe and unstable.

This was in our opinion a prison in crisis.

The Department of Justice says major changes and reforms have

The Chief Inspector of Prisons does not agree.

Dickens could write about Maghaberry Prison without batting an eyelid.

The justice minister said he only had time for a limited number

This was his response to a BBC reporter.

The report criticised leadership of Maghaberry Prison in May this year.

The director-general has refreshed and strengthened the leadership team

in the prison and that is the team which is now delivering

That is the important thing to focus on.

They are not bringing in improvements?

You were told that I had time for two questions then I had to see

I will certainly not be resigning while I lead

They are held here in Row House, a separate unit within the prison.

They account for just 5% of the total prison population but are much

The report says giving preference to maintaining the regime for separate

prisoners over every other area in the prison is unfair...

There are harsh words about health care in the prison.

Concerns are shared by this protester who served 17

He suffers from a rare condition which means his jaw

did not grow normally and says he did not receive proper treatment.

I was in the cell 24.7 just to sore.

Because the doctors did not seem to understand they just kept putting

my medication up and up and up to the point where I was just

Improvements to the prison buildings are currently taking place

but bricks and mortar won't fix the problems identified in this report.

The inspectors will go back in January to assess what progress

Director general of the prison service, Sue McAllister, said that

while the report's findings were disappointing, conditions at the

I have overseen significant improvements in reform to the

service, acknowledged by the minister, by the independent

oversight panel including the chief inspector of criminal justice, there

is much work left, I am the right person to lead that but we have

reached a point of no return. This is a huge huge reform programme and

you would not expect it to be delivered quickly.

A Belfast businessman has asked the police to investigate remarks made

about him by the DUP leader, Peter Robinson.

about him by the DUP leader, Peter Lawyers acting for Peter Curistan

have lodged a complaint with the PSNI about the comments, which were

made in the House of Commons nine years ago. Mr Curistan alleges there

is a case to answer under what's known as "misfeasance in public

office". Mr Robinson says any police investigation would be a waste of

in two weeks time. Hospital have voted to go on strike

The dispute is with the Northern Trust over planned changes to the

rotation of the 30 paeditric nurses to include a new children's unit

within the Accident and Emergency department. Nurses believe the plans

are unsafe, but the Northern Trust say the proposals have been

clinically assessed and any risks have been considered and concerns

addressed. They also say they have offered the opportunity to resolve

the dispute without the need to strike. But the nurses' union

Nurses feel they need additional staff, it has not been resourced

adequately. It isn't being staffed adequately. They are fully

supportive of the concept of a paediatric unit in the A

department but one that must be resourced properly and staffed

properly. A public warning notice has been

added to an art exhibition at the demonises the Orange Order.

claim that one of the paintings appear to be Ku Klux Klan masks.

Both the TUV and the DUP have asked for it to be removed. But the Grand

Orange Lodge said they didn't object to the painting being in the

exhibition as long as the warning We are not calling for this

painting to be taken down four. This is not about censorship

but this is about acknowledging the fact that it is offensive to

our organisation and membership. I will make a point of going

into see it. The Secretary of State says she

believes a deal can be done at Stormont next week - but warned

there are still significant obstacles to be overcome. Theresa

Villiers was speaking amid speculation that a deal between the

DUP and Sinn Fein is imminent. She said there was a degree of hope

because of the commitment of the I think it's possible we could have

a deal next week, yes. I am realistic about the state of the

talks, I think that the gap between the parties on key issues has been

closing but there are some very difficult problems still to be

resolved. You can see that interview in full straight after this

programme. And BBC Northern Ireland's Spotlight

programme has won a Royal Television Society award tonight. The programme

picked up the RTS for ' A Woman Alone with the IRA' in which Belfast

woman Mairia Cahill said she was raped by a suspected IRA man and

that the IRA later helped cover up Straight to the weather forecast.

Angie. Hello, today's band of rain has been a transition to changeable

weather through the next couple of days. The rain has moved on tonight,

mainly dry, a firm out of cloud which will tend to become misty with

low cloud, not Chile. Nine or 10 degrees. Tomorrow, and other change

on the way, brighter weather moving in that another head cap tomorrow

with a never wet and windy spell. They could be surface water and

spray on the roads, not pleasant with the southerly breeze

freshening. The rain moves away from the Republic of Ireland heading

eastwards across the rest of Britain. For most parts of the

country tomorrow, wet and windy. Quite mild in the south, 16 to 18

degrees, decent for early November. Towards the West, West Wales and the

south-west of England, skies will brighten up into the early hours.

The afternoon is more cheery, sunshine, a few blustery showers

moving through but more dry than wet weather. Decent temperatures, 15 or

16 degrees. With a breeze, the values will be tempered. Saturday,

low-pressure moves in bringing wet and windy conditions for a time.

Another batch of rain moves in on Sunday said quite changeable with

rain at times and wet and windy. That is your local news and weather.

The next BBC Newsline is at 6:25am. You can keep updated with the news

online. Take care, good night.