Assaults at Maghaberry Prison more than double in four years

Dunne, who has been a prison officer for 43 years, said the remand population is “through the roof” and this, he believes, has contributed to the rise in assaults.

A remand prisoner is someone who is being held in prison while waiting for their trial or sentencing to happen.

“The prison population at the moment is more than it has ever been.”

Maghaberry holds both sentenced and remand prisoners, with Dunne pointing to the latter as a particular source of pressure.

He described these people as being “very, very unsettling” because “they could be in prison today and out tomorrow”.

“That frustration is then taken out on my members or other prisoners,” he said, adding that the courts are “completely swamped”.

Dunne added that he believes the barristers’ strike contributed to the pressure on the prison population.

The number of assaults by prisoners on staff increased from 43 in 2021 to 56 in 2025.

While these incidents are a significant concern, the data shows prisoner-on-prisoner assaults accounted for the largest rise at Maghaberry.

There were 93 such incidents recorded in 2025, compared with 26 in 2021.

He contrasted Maghaberry with Magilligan Prison, which he described as having a “more stable prison population”.

Dunne also raised concerns about the “enormous” number of prisoners experiencing mental health issues.

“Our staff or my members are not mental health nurses,” he said.

“They are prison officers that are there to do a professional job and they do it in a professional way.”

He said recruiting and retaining more prison officers was essential to maintaining stability within the prison system.

“We need more officers recruited, which we’re in the process of doing, we need the right officers recruited.”

Dunne said having more experienced officers in place would also help create stability, while the rate at which staff were leaving had “dropped quite considerably”.

But with the prison population continuing to rise, he said there were few options available to the service.

When asked how Maghaberry could cope if prisoner numbers continued to increase, he said: “There is no other alternative.”