Northern Ireland prison officers plan a mass walk-out on Monday to call for the resignation of the governor of the Maze prison, Mr Martin Mogg. Up to 2,500 are expected to take part and hold protests outside top-security prisons.
Mr Mogg suggested last week that some prison officers were against the release of prisoners under the Belfast Agreement. He has since apologised for the comments, made to a House of Commons committee last Wednesday.
But Mr Finlay Spratt, chairman of the Northern Ireland Prison Officers' Association, said officers were furious about the remarks and voted unanimously to break the law forbidding them from taking industrial action at a meeting on Tuesday night.
"Prison officers are absolutely livid about this," said Mr Spratt. "Mr Mogg basically made out that we were against the agreement and that is totally misleading. Prison officers are happy to see peace . . . We will keep on protesting until we have Mr Mogg removed."
Mr Spratt rejected suggestions that prison officers were against the deal because it would effectively make them redundant.
"Most of our members welcome the opportunity to have peace even though we will lose jobs as prison officers," he said. "As long as we are adequately compensated we have no axe to grind." A spokesman for the Prison Service said Mr Mogg's remarks had been taken out of context:
"Mr Mogg expressed the view when asked that it was a possibility that some staff may be against the release of prisoners, particularly when they themselves have experienced terrorist violence first-hand.
"He said against that backdrop and the possible decline in the prison population and any subsequent job losses, it is understandable if some prison officers were less than enthusiastic about the release of prisoners. No offence to staff was intended."