From the autumn of 1976 on, republican prisoners refused to put on prison clothes, and were punished by being kept in their cells wrapped only in a blanket. A refusal to wear prison uniform left prisoners naked, confined almost permanently to cells and regularly punished for non-conforming by three days ‘on the boards’ when all cell furniture was removed. Without uniform there were no family visits and remission was lost, which in practice could double the time spent in prison.
