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
Concerned Group for Republican Prisoners are located on E4 landing. The prisoners who chose to remain in the CIRA have moved to D wing. The majority of the CGRP prisoners returned to the CIRA or served out their sentences unaligned. As of 2010, the CGRP have no prisoners left and the organization is now defunct. Concerned Group for Republican Prisoners The Concerned Group for Republican Prisoners (CGRP) was an Irish republican prisoners' support group. The CGRP was established on September 10, 2005 as the result of an internal dispute within the ranks of Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) prisoners being held at Portlaoise Prison. That