DOWDALL PLEA TO GET OUT OF ISOLATION

Prison bosses refuse to back down after threats to his life

STATE witness Jonathan Dowdall has demanded to know why he isn't allowed to mix with the prison population.

The Mirror has learned that Dowdall has protested the fact that he is locked down and isolated on a landing in Limerick Prison - despite the threat to his life.

Sources say Dowdall made his feelings known to authorities in the Irish Prison Service that he was not happy with the fact that he cannot mix with any of the prison population.

"He said he wanted to be able to mix with the main prison population, and he said he doesn't understand why he isn't able to, a source said.

Dowdall has protested his isolation in spite of the fact that his conditions within Limerick Prison are almost completely unprecedented in that he is effectively alone on a tiny corridor landing for his own safety.

He has only his father Patrick who is serving a two-year sentence in a cell next to him, and who is also isolated from the rest of the prison population.

But sources say authorities aren't taking any chances when it comes to Dowdall - who is effectively the most high-profile prisoner in the system.

"This is someone who now potentially has enemies around every corner, a source said.