A prison officer has been shot dead when he was ambushed on a motorway on his way to work in Northern Ireland.

The officer, from the high security Maghaberry Prison near Lisburn, was ambushed on a stretch of the M1 between Portadown and Lurgan, County Armagh.

One unconfirmed report claimed a gunman opened up when another car pulled up alongside.

It is understood the officer’s car careered off the road when he was fired on and he died later.

Paul Girvan, a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, said the man was on his way to begin duty at the top-security in County Antrim, where dissident republicans have been involved in long-running protests against jail conditions.

Jeffrey Donaldson, MP for Lagan Valley, said: “This is a terrible tragedy. Once again, a small minority are trying to drag us back to the dark days.”

A car suspected of being linked to the attack was later found burnt-out at Lurgan, where dissident republicans have considerable support.

The shooting happened at around 7.30am, at the same time as a major security alert further along the motorway at a shopping centre at Sprucefield, near Lisburn, where bomb disposal experts were called in to check a car.

It is believed this vehicle might have been linked in some way to the shooting, according to some sources.

Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers condemned the murder, describing it as “cowardly and evil attack”.

She said: “The thoughts and deepest sympathy of us all are with the family, friends and colleagues of the murdered prison officer.

“Like his colleagues across the prison service he was dedicated to serving the whole community in Northern Ireland . This is in stark contrast to the people responsible for this despicable crime.

“The British and Irish Governments, the Executive, the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) and Garda – and above all the people of Northern Ireland – will continue to work together to ensure that those who pursue their aims by violence will not succeed.”

Only a day ago, Ms Villiers warned that the threat from dissident republicans in Northern Ireland remained severe.

Steve Gillan, general secretary of Prison officers Association, added: “I condemn the outrageous murder of a professional prison officer. My thoughts are with his family and friends.”

Sinn Fein Assembly member John O’Dowd said the shooting was “totally wrong”.

“There is no justification for continued conflict in this society,” he said.

Mr O’Dowd insisted the extremists would not be allowed to take the region backwards.

“We, as a society, have decided we want to move beyond them. The road they are on is not going to achieve anything.”

The man is the 30th prison officer killed in Northern Ireland since 1974.

The dissident protests in Maghaberry have taken place at a time when the NI Prison Service is undergoing a turbulent programme of reform.

The shooting represents a major blow for recently-appointed director general Sue McAllister, 51, from South Yorkshire, who took over the reins of the organisation earlier this summer.

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