Maze Prison escape celebrating the escape called "The Helicopter Song", which topped the Irish popular music charts. 19 IRA members escaped from Portlaoise Jail on 18 August 1974 after overpowering guards and using gelignite to blast through gates, and 33 prisoners attempted to escape from Long Kesh on 6 November 1974 after digging a tunnel. IRA member Hugh Coney was shot dead by a sentry, 29 other prisoners were captured within a few yards of the prison, and the remaining three were back in custody within 24 hours. In March 1975, ten prisoners escaped from the courthouse in Newry while on trial for
Segovia prison break Following Franco's death in October 1975, the new head of state, king Juan Carlos, signed a partial amnesty. Despite this, over 600 political prisoners remained incarcerated throughout Spain, with a substantial number of them having connections to the Basque separatist group ETA. The previous most successful escape involving ETA prisoners had occurred in December 1969, when 15 political prisoners, including 10 ETA members, had escaped from Basauri prison in Biscay. The Segovia escape would be the largest escape since the Spanish Civil War and the biggest of numerous escape attempts organised by ETA. Those planning to escape learnt from Communist