“Opportunity” to site prison at Barracks, says O’Loan

Mr O’Loan’s comments came on Monday in response to an interim report by the Prisons Review Team which, he said, “is scathing about the existing prison estate”.

He said the report offers the opportunity for Ballymena to make a case as the location for a new prison.

He also stated that Ballymena Borough Council should take this matter up and should advocate that Ballymena could house a new prison on the vacant St Patrick’s Barracks site.

The SDLP Assemblyman and Ballymena Borough Councillor said: “ This is a real opportunity for Ballymena. A prison would be a source of considerable employment in the area, and would also draw in a large amount of goods and services from local firms.

“I will ask the Council to embark at once on the analysis of this issue. We should be aware that a new prison need not be government-run, but could be managed by an independent provider,” he said.