Twenty-seven men will be charged this week with causing a riot in Mountjoy Prison last year.

It is understood 19 individuals who are currently in various prisons around the country will all be arrested on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and taken to Dublin District Court where they will be charged with causing violent disorder.

A further eight men who were in Mountjoy during the violent disturbances in July 2008 but have since completed their sentences will be arrested at their homes and brought to court to be formally charged.

The maximum sentence for violent disorder is 10 years imprisonment and an unlimited fine. Gardaí have a significant amount of evidence against the bulk of those involved and anticipate jail sentences will be imposed on many of those charged.

Detectives at Mountjoy garda station have spent the last year studying CCTV footage of the incident to identify those involved and the mass charging of the suspects represents the end of what has been one of the biggest garda investigations in recent times.

Prison officers also helped identify many of those involved.

Some 78 inmates barricaded themselves into a recreation room and caused an estimated €80,000 worth of damage during the incident on 12 July.

Inmates seized hammers and planks of wood after breaking into the woodwork room and were disarmed only when more than 70 prison guards in riot gear, backed by another 30 guards, moved in after a stand-off that lasted several hours.

The ringleaders have been identified as convicted drug dealers John Paul Kelly from Clondalkin, Colm Carroll and Gary Hayes from Cork, Mark Byrne from Dublin who is serving a sentence for assault, and armed robber Patrick O'Connell from Dublin.

Mark Byrne, Gary Hayes and John Paul Kelly have amassed nearly 180 disciplinary actions against them while they have been in Mountjoy.

Three prison officers and five inmates were injured in the riot. The most seriously injured officer sustained serious facial and dental injuries when he was hit in the face with a fire extinguisher. He has since returned to work.

The two other injured officers inhaled foam from the fire extinguisher when prisoners sprayed them with it as they broke through the barricade.

The riot related to prisoners' mounting anger at tough new security measures put in place to prevent the smuggling of drugs, phones and other contraband into the jail. After the riot, 15 of the ringleaders were transferred to other jails.