Republican Sinn Fein is calling for the release on humanitarian grounds of Josephine Hayden (54), who was jailed for six years in 1996 for possession of firearms and who, they said, has been hospitalised following a heart attack.
The prison authorities declined to confirm that Ms Hayden was hospitalised.
According to the party's PRO, Mr Ruairi Og O Bradaigh, Ms Hayden, who is serving her sentence in Limerick Prison, is "the only woman political prisoner"in the State.
"The conditions there are detrimental to her health in our view," he said.
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Ms Hayden, a mother of two, from Knockmore Grove, Tallaght, was convicted on a first offence at the Special Criminal Court, Dublin, in January, 1996.