The Republic's Prison Service director general Brian Purcell last night denied a claim that republican prisoners at the maximum security jail in Portlaoise had "walk-in wardrobes".

The annual conference of the Prison Officers Association in Castlebar heard there were only 48 prisoners on four landings allocated to inmates of the Real IRA, the Continuity IRA, INLA and non-aligned subversives -- but there were more han 120 cell spaces on the landings and this meant that the prisoners had extra cells, which they used to store sports gear as well as their clothes and shoes.

However, Mr Purcell said the extra cells were put to different uses, such as workshops, or to store washing machines. "They certainly don't have cells that are walk-in wardrobes," he added.