AMID tight security and unprecedented secrecy, Ms Roisin McAliskey, whose baby is two days overdue, was released on conditional bail last night from Holloway prison and transferred to a local hospital, following a ruling at the High Court in London.
Under her bail conditions, it is understood that Ms McAliskey (25), who is a category A prisoner, will have to reside in a secure room on the maternity ward of the Whittington hospital, north London, until the birth of her child.
The bail restrictions will then be reviewed depending upon the baby's health. Ms McAliskey, who suffers from severe asthma, has had a difficult pregnancy and doctors believe her baby weighs only 5 lb.
Late last night, an English Prison Service spokesman said: "The decision by Mr Justice Hooper was based on medical evidence provided by the consultant obstetrician of the Whittington hospital who said she could better prepare for the birth of her child in hospital," he added.
A friend of the McAliskey family said Roisin was "very relieved" by the ruling. "It is the first time she feels that any decisions about her baby and its birth will be made on medical grounds rather than security reasons," he added. In the US, the Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, welcomed the news.
Following a three-hour bail application hearing in private at the High Court, Mr Justice Hooper imposed an unprecedented gagging order preventing Ms McAliskey's lawyers, family and the English Prison Service from commenting until the transfer had been completed.
It is understood the Crown Prosecution Service had opposed bail, arguing that sufficient arrangements had been made for the birth and had informed Ms McAliskey she would be induced on Monday in Holloway prison for "security reasons" and would be transferred later to a hospital.
Ms McAliskey, a community worker from Coalisland, Co Tyrone, is awaiting extradition to Germany in connection allegedly with the IRA bombing of a British army base in Osnabruck last June.
Since her arrest last November, she has been repeatedly refused bail because the German authorities feared she may abscond.
Ms McAliskey's MP, Mr Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein, called on the Home Office to ensure she remained free on bail "until she wins her extradition hearing".