The Maze Prison

A SOBER PIECE OF CRIMINOLOGICAL HISTORY WHICH WE WOULD ALL PREFER TO FORGET

An appreciation by Elizabeth Robson Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE, Head of Chambers and Reviews Editor, "The Barrister"

Waterside Press are to be congratulated for the publication of this important work on "The Maze Prison" written by Tom Murtagh. It is a hidden story of chaos, anarchy and politics which can also describe centuries of conflict throughout Ireland.

Do start by reading the Foreword by Phillip Wheatley who comments that the work should be "compulsory reading for all those who play a role in ensuring that society remains cohesive and who are committed to defeating the threats posed by revolutionaries prepared to use violence to advance their cause". Very sober reading.

The book describes, for a new audience, how an establishment built to hold those involved in terrorism, atrocities, murder and allied crimes became a pawn in the partisan conflict that was Northern Ireland.

What then happened was a "breakdown of norms, values and control as the last of these shifted from Governors to Ministers, outside officials and even prisoners".

This was followed by the (often random) killing of prison officers and "countless allegations, denials and obfuscations, as Prison Rules came into conflict with claims to be treated as prisoners-of-war or be given Special Category status".

The book has been described rightly as "a social document par excellence". It is a stark slant on "The Troubles" and the "Peace Process" and the author "cuts through the propaganda and base politics to reveal the truth about the H-Blocks, hunger-strikes, escapes and power struggles".

Murtagh has conducted detailed research based upon actual records and personal accounts. He also challenges the myths and legends surrounding the history of the prison to give us a warning how easily a community can descend into what the author calls "anomie", and by that he means the specific criminological concept. The book remains a most useful statement on applied criminology for all undergraduates.

We do need more books like this because it is "an invaluable record" of "one of the most dangerous prisons in the world". Of course, the day may come when society can develop a new way of dealing with offenders once our approaches change, but that day remains a long way off but "The Maze Prison" reminds us of how not to do it.

The date of publication is cited as 20th February 2018.