Ulster Unionist MLA Doug Beattie MC is bringing a motion to the Assembly on Monday, calling for an end to the existing separated prison regime at HMP Maghaberry and a move to a fully integrated regime by 2026.

 Doug Beattie, who is also his Party’s Justice Spokesperson, said:

 “There is no question that Maghaberry is a unique prison, holding a number of prisoners in separated wings who have been convicted of paramilitary/terrorist type offences.

 “A key question is, that 22 years on from the ceasefires and 18 years on from the Belfast Agreement, should we still be perpetuating the type of prison regime that existed during the Troubles?

 “It is quite clear that there are some in our society who are not willing to accept that the people of Northern Ireland want to live in a normalised society and they do not want to see guns on our streets.  Whether you package them as paramilitaries, drug dealers or organised crime gangs, the truth is they are nothing more than criminals and must be treated as such.

 “It is time to get serious and show that we as an Assembly and a society mean business. The people who murdered Constable Ronan Kerr in April 2011 are either “enemies of the people of Ireland” as the deputy First Minister said, or they are worthy of special treatment in prisons.

 “What political motivation lay behind the murders of Michael McGibbon in Ardoyne in April of this year or Joe Reilly in Poleglass last Thursday night? What cause was advanced, save tat of spreading fear, terror and misery?

 “It is time to stand up and say, these murders are the work of criminals who deserve no special status. The longer we perpetuate the separated regime, the more credibility we give these gangsters and murderers.

 “No other country in Europe would tolerate this situation and that is why on Monday I shall be asking the Assembly to call on the Justice Minister to move to a fully integrated regime by 2026.”