Majority of prison staff live locally

David Ford, the man ultimately responsible for the planned closure of Magilligan, has defended his decision vociferously in the face of fierce criticism from local politicians.

One issue which appears to have been a particular sticking point with locals was the Minister’s assertion, made during a recent Question Time session at Stormont, that he did not see “how moving a facility from A to B is wiping out jobs or decimating the economy when the great majority of those employed at Magilligan do not live in Limavady, as he seems to suggest.”

Local MLAs such as George Robinson and David McClarty have been probing the Minister with written questions ever since he made that particular remark.

DUP man Robinson had previously asked the Minister for details on the number of prison staff who live in the Limavady area, to which the Minister replied that: “Four hundred and forty four staff currently work at Magilligan Prison. One hundred and twenty seven of those staff currently reside in the Limavady Borough area. Of those staff who reside in the Limavady Borough area, 18 are considered to be non mobile grades.”

The figures supplied by Ford indicated that just under 30 per cent of workers at Magilligan reside in Limavady, although Robinson has since followed that question up with a request for details on the number of workers who live in the East Londonderry area.

Ford has now stated that out of all the staff employed at HMP Magilligan, 332 live in East Londonderry, while 87 live in the neighbouring Foyle and North Antrim constituencies, confirming the long held belief among local politicians that the vast majority of staff at Magilligan do, indeed, live locally.

Speaking to the Sentinel recently, Mr Robinson said: “The Minister fails to accept that while he talks about the cost of families visiting a family member in Magilligan Prison, that cost would be reversed for families living in the Limavady and Coleraine areas if his plan was accepted to relocate the prison.

“Magilligan prison must stay on the current site to protect the economic future of Limavady and the North West and utilise its present isolated location to the full.”