THE family of Jonas McGovern clubbed together to buy her a guard dog for Christmas. Living in a quiet country area along the Cavan Fermanagh Border, no one would have expected her to need a trained watchdog. But Jonas, who is in her mid 30s, says she is living in fear of the inmates of Loughan House, an open prison just across the field.
Just before Christmas, £700 worth of her property was stolen from a shed behind her house. The thief, responsible for several robberies in the area, was an inmate of the open prison. When he had completed each robbery, he hid the stolen goods and returned to prison. Accomplices picked up the goods later.
For Jonas, the raid at her home was the final straw. "I'm afraid for my life. I live on my own. Murderers and rapists can come and go from Loughan House as they please. No one seems to care what happens to me.
In Loughan House they can play golf and tennis and watch satellite Tv. They can come and go as they please. You and me are paying £42,000 every year to keep them in luxury. You have men coming from behind the bars of Mountjoy to Blacklion, to a prison that would make a boarding school seem strict.
"I am scared not just for myself but for the old people and the children living in this area and I want something done about it now"
Jonas contacted neighbours who had also had break ins to their properties and they called a public meeting to discuss the issue of security at the prison.
The quiet village of Blacklion has not been the same since. A bitter row has broken out between residents over the issue. One side claims that by highlighting the situation, badly needed jobs in the detention centre were being threatened.
However, the Blacklion Action Group says it is not prepared to "put up and shut up" any longer.
Some 80 prisoners abscond from Loughan House every year, according to prison sources. Last December, a 20 year old man escaped and is being sought by gardai in connection with attacks on the elderly in counties Galway and Roscommon.
"Our only regret is that we did net speak up sooner," said Mr Eamonn Murray, one of the campaigners. "The situation at Loughan House has gone beyond a joke. People are terrified in the area but everyone is reluctant to speak in case they will blamed for frying to close the prison.
"If they want a prison here, they have to keep the prisoners inside. At the moment there is no security there whatsoever".
The action group says its members have been threatened by locals who believe the prison should be kept as it is. Each campaigner complains of receiving crank calls. "Many people are simply afraid to speak out anymore," Mr Murray said.
The local parish priest, Father John O'Donnell, was also a victim of a raid carried out by one of the inmates of Loughan House, but he is more forgiving. He lost almost £1,700 worth of machinery.
"There have been many success stories from Loughan House," he insists. "I know of inmates who went in there completely illiterate and who are now remarkable readers. I know of one man who was convicted of murder and who decided to put his past behind him and to change his life. He is now very successful and employing other people.
People have to be given a second chance, he believes. "There should be a method of rehabilitation in the prison system that will allow people to repent and change over to a new way of life. Loughan House allows that kind of rehabilitation. It is a very progressive prison."