HMP Maghaberry

The largest and most complex prison in Northern Ireland

In shortMaghaberry is the largest and most complex of Northern Ireland’s three prisons, its only category A prison and the remand prison for all adult men; NIPS pay is separate from HMPPS.

• Prisons run by NIPSLargest of 3Largest and most complex (2023 CJI and HMI Prisons report)
• Category A in Northern IrelandOnly one
• Remand prisonAll adult menIn the country

The Northern Ireland Department of Justice describes Maghaberry as a modern high security prison housing adult male long-term sentenced and remand prisoners, in both separated and integrated conditions. The 2023 inspection report, written jointly by Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJI) and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMI Prisons), goes further.

• It also holds life-sentenced, indeterminate and extended-custody prisoners, separated prisoners, fine defaulters and civil prisoners.

History and layout

In shortMaghaberry was built on a Second World War airfield site, opened in stages from 1986 and 1987, and has held separated paramilitary prisoners since 2003.

Bann House

Committal and induction.

Roe House and Bush House

Remand and sentenced prisoners, plus Republican and Loyalist separated prisoners respectively.

Wilson House

Life-sentenced prisoners.

Moyola, Shimna and Quoile

Older, vulnerable and complex-needs prisoners.

Burren House

In Belfast city centre; working-out places for up to 22 men near the end of long sentences.

Who is held: a prison under population pressure

In shortThe roll rose from 1,050 at the 2022 inspection to 1,254 by late 2023, and all adult men are initially housed here.

• Held, 2022 inspection1,050Almost half on remand; 132 foreign nationals; a quarter of those sentenced on life or indeterminate sentences
• Roll, October and November 20231,25450% on remand; just under 400 men sharing cells
• IMB 2024/25 operational capacity1,415With a baseline of 1,935 places in shared cells under crowded conditions
• New admissions (IMB 2024/25)3,421845 were first-time prisoners

The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) notes that all adult men are initially housed at Maghaberry regardless of their crime or sentence length. Magilligan takes sentenced men transferred from here, and women are held at Hydebank Wood.

Our pages on HMP Magilligan and Hydebank Wood College and Women’s Prison cover those establishments.

What inspectors found: 2022 inspection and 2023 review

In shortThe 2022 inspection found safety not sufficiently good and purposeful activity poor, and a 2023 review found reasonable progress on nine of 12 concerns.

• SafetyNot sufficiently goodUnchanged since 2018
• RespectReasonably goodUnchanged since 2018
• Purposeful activityPoorHad fallen
• Rehabilitation and release planningNot sufficiently goodDropped from ‘good’

CJI, HMI Prisons, the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority and the Education and Training Inspectorate inspected unannounced from 20 September to 6 October 2022 and published their report on 16 June 2023.

They identified five priority and seven key concerns, including a serious drug problem (41% of surveyed prisoners said drugs were easy to get), weak adult safeguarding and little time off the wing: only 15.5% of prisoners were off the wing in their checks.

Staffing and the IMB’s 2024/25 report

In shortStaffing was short and sick leave was rising, though the IMB found a stable regime and was largely satisfied with prisoners’ treatment.

On staffing, the 2023 review said the target staffing level had been increased since the full inspection but there was still a deficit of 40 between the target and the number of staff in post, and just over 100 staff were not available for duty.

Population pressures had forced leaders to reopen older accommodation that had to be staffed, and prisoner development co-ordinators were regularly cross-deployed to operational duties.

The IMB, reporting on 2024/25, said Maghaberry had remained a stable regime and that it was largely satisfied with the treatment of prisoners. The Board also said that low numbers of IMB members were straining its ability to monitor.

Working at Maghaberry

In shortOfficers are employed by the NI Prison Service, not HMPPS; the advertised salary was £32,510 to £42,725 a year, marked ‘under review’.

• Advertised salary£32,510 to £42,725A year; marked ‘under review’
• Risk allowance£4,284A year
• Boot allowance£92.80A year

Officers in Northern Ireland are employed by the NI Prison Service, not HMPPS. The Department of Justice’s recruitment page for Custody Prison Officers named Maghaberry, Magilligan and Hydebank Wood as the places of work, and closed to applications at noon on Friday 17 July 2026. Applications are made through the NICS recruitment website.

We verified these figures on 3 October 2026; the page does not give training details, and the 2026/27 Northern Ireland pay outcome was not found.

• The inspection reports give some insight into the work: Maghaberry is a high-security, high-volume environment with separated regimes, committals and remands.
• There is a large health care presence from the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust.
• For how NIPS pay compares with England and Wales Band 3, see our Northern Ireland pay guide, the prison officer jobs by region guide and the prison finder.