Séamus McElwaine judge describing him as a "dangerous killer" and recommending he spend at least 30 years in prison. On 25 September 1983, McElwaine was involved in the Maze Prison escape, the largest break-out of prisoners in Europe since World War II and in British prison history. 38 republican prisoners, armed with 6 handguns, hijacked a prison meals lorry and smashed their way out of the Maze prison. After the escape he joined an IRA Active Service Unit operating in the area of the border between Counties Monaghan and Fermanagh. The unit targeted police and military patrols with gun and bomb attacks,
Concerned Group for Republican Prisoners 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 dispute led to a number of CIRA prisoners to leave the organisation. Three of these prisoners have since aligned themselves with the Irish National Liberation Army landing in the prison, but the others are now independent of any known paramilitary grouping and are known as the Republican Prisoners Group. They