Colin's brother Paul was one member of the delegation of former prisoners who have said they are willing to go into Maghaberry Prison to negotiate to bring a protest by republican prisoners to an end.
On Easter Sunday 28 republican prisoners took an action in the jail in protest at prison conditions. In reality, prisoners are locked in their cells for up to 23 hours a day A delegation of men, all of whom are former republican prisoners, said yesterday they would be willing to meet prison management to help bring the crisis to an end.
One of the group, Gerard Hodgkins, said the situation at Maghaberry had the potential to escalate further. "It can spiral out of control at the drop of a hat as we have seen" he said "Eventually this protest has to end-we all know that- but it is how it ends that's important. "There is a serious problem here. Prisoners are being ill treated, the community is now taking an interest in their plight and yet there is silence from the politcians. As a delegation we would offer, in an effort to defuse tensions and resolve the standoff in the canteen, to go into the prison and mediate."
Former IRA prisoner Tony Catney, a member of Republican Network For Unity, claimed it was becoming increasingly clear that Maghaberry was not "fit for purpose".
"The establishment will try to write this off as dissenting propaganda but two annual inspection reports have said Maghaberry isn't up to scratch" he said. "A number-one governor brought in to reform the regime couldn't hack it and lasted just five months. Now what does that tell you?"