The British government is to spend more money increasing security measures for prison staff in Northern Ireland as part of a deal which averted a UK-wide strike by warders.
The authorities also called off further legal action as union representatives agreed to end the threat of more strikes at the flashpoint Maghaberry Jail, near Lisburn, Co Antrim.
Details were revealed today as the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association orchestrated a series of hoax bomb alerts which caused more than seven hours of major traffic chaos in parts of Belfast.
It was linked to violent protests at Maghaberry where prisoners demanding segregation from republicans wrecked 30 cells and other accommodation leaving damage estimated at up to £150,000.
The Northern Ireland Office has already spent £28 million improving security measures at hundreds of homes belonging to prison officers.
This followed threats on their lives by loyalists, and the disclosure that the personal details of all 1,400 staff were known to the IRA following the theft of documents from government offices in Belfast.
Sources confirmed additional money would be set aside for extra protection.
But the widespread disruption in Belfast caused by at least a dozen bomb alerts confirmed fears that the deal struck between union representatives and the Northern Ireland Office in London may not ease the tensions at Maghaberry, and the possibility of further trouble on the streets.
There was another bomb scare in the flashpoint district of Ardoyne in north Belfast this evening.
Police and a British army bomb disposal experts were recalled to the Alliance Avenue area near Jamaica Street after locals saw a car pull up and throw what appeared to be a pipe bomb.
Police later declared the devices a hoax.
PA