Naomi Long says there are ‘no political prisoners’ in the North

"There are no political prisoners in Northern Ireland," she stated, in response to a Written Assembly Question from Sinn Féin MLA Jemma Dolan.

Ms. Dolan asked for details of the current prisoner population, broken down by prison; political and non-political categorisation, age groups, gender, and length of sentence.

The minister confirmed that there are now 497 prisoners at Magilligan in north Derry.

There are 1,233 inmates in Maghaberry and 89 in Hydebank Wood Females and 47 in Hydebank Wood Males. The total prison population is thus 1,866.

The vast majority of the prison population is male with 1,777 prisoners compared with 89 female prisoners.

Almost half of all prisoners (501) are in jail serving sentences from longer than one year to less than or equal to five years.

The largest cohort of prisoners (707) are aged between 30 and 39.