HE has been dubbed the last Irish 'political prisoner' to be held in an English jail but Real IRA conspirator Noel Maguire has been refused permission to serve the remainder of his sentence in an Irish prison.

Maguire was one of five men convicted for planting three bombs in London and Birmingham in 2001. He was sentenced to 22 years behind bars. He was described in court as having played the most serious part in the bombing conspiracy.

Now an online campaign for his repatriation to an Irish prison, coupled with official efforts by Sinn Féin, have ended in failure.

Maguire had appealed to the Irish government to allow him return to Ireland and to be closer to his family.

The Department of Justice declined to comment on the case but the Sunday Tribune understands that Maguire's links to Ireland are not deemed strong enough to support his case.

"He is asking for repatriation; he wants to go to Portlaoise (prison) or some jail in this state," said Sinn Féin Dublin South Central TD Aengus Ó Snódaigh, who recently inquired as to the prospects of Maguire serving his sentence in Ireland. "He has a wife and kids in this state. He should be close to his family so on that basis alone I have no problem making representations."

According to a campaign for his repatriation, Maguire was the victim of a knife attack by two inmates in his London prison.

His supporters say he is the last remaining Irish 'political prisoner' still incarcerated in England and claim four other men sentenced in connection with the same crime have all been repatriated. They also say that Maguire, by the start of 2008, had not seen his children in six years.

The exact status of his family is unclear. There have been claims that his application for a return to Ireland has been rejected on the basis that he has no family in the state. However, appeal letters being circulated to Ireland and officials in the US claim "this is untrue as Noel's wife and their two children in fact live within an hour's drive of Portlaoise prison in Co Laois. He also has two sisters and a brother in Ireland."

Maguire himself is from County Fermanagh but, according to his supporters, has an Irish passport.

He was sentenced in 2003 alongside four counter-conspirators for planting three bombs, two in London and one in Birmingham. Their first attack was outside the BBC Television Centre in March 2001. This was followed by a bomb in Ealing Broadway, west London in August and in Queensway, Birmingham in November.

Nobody was killed in the attacks but a number of people were injured and millions of pounds worth of damage was caused. The bombings took place in busy city areas on Saturday evenings.

Noel Maguire was sentenced to 22 years; Robert Hulme and his brother Aiden got 20 years. All three had denied the charge of conspiracy to cause explosions between 1 January and 15 November 2001 as part of a campaign by the Real IRA. James McCormack and John Hannan had previously admitted the offence.

The three devices were of home made explosive mixture, had similar timing mechanisms and were left to explode in vehicles. The same code was used in each attack.

During the 10-week trial, the Old Bailey heard that Maguire's fingerprints were found on bank notes used to purchase a taxi used in one of the bombings.