Around 3,000 prison officers around the country have gone on strike for an hour this afternoon in protest at new security arrangements at jails.
The Irish Prison Service says the new rigorous searching regime for all visitors, including staff, is required to prevent smuggling of contraband including drugs and mobile phones into prisons.
However, the current dispute centres on whether prison officers should be searched before or after they formally clock in for work.
The prison service says that officers are not ready to clock in for work until they have been searched.
However, the Prison Officers' Association says the new rules would mean they would undergo searches on their own time, and that this would extend their working day.
A similar stoppage was staged on 30 November, and two further strikes are planned for 19 and 21 December.
It is understood that efforts have been made to find a basis for third party intervention - but that not enough progress was made to warrant calling off today's protest.
