{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/65670352d7b5d40012be7324/6a842769b9d83ea9ccc689cf?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"The IRA’s infamous escape from Belfast’s prison ship, the HMS Maidstone","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/65670352d7b5d40012be7324/1787045706911-95a4a871-d609-4d2a-98ad-c40827c47a3e.jpeg?height=200","description":"<p>HMS Maidstone, an ex-Royal Navy Ship, was used in the early 1970s to hold internees.</p><p><br></p><p>In January 1972, a group of IRA prisoners swam 270 meters through an ice-cold Belfast Lough in a bid to escape, greasing themselves in butter to squeeze out of the ship’s portholes.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>They then hijacked a double-decker bus before slipping across the border, humiliating the authorities.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Ciarán Dunbar is joined by James Durney, author of ‘Jailbreak: Great Irish Republican escapes’.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p><em>This episode was originally published in January 2025.</em></p>","author_name":"Belfast Telegraph"}