Although it gradually established branches at other prisons, progress was slow, and the Mountjoy branch committee continued to run the union's national operation.
Only in 1972 was a representative National Executive Council established, with members from each branch.
The following year, the first full-time general secretary was elected, Jim Wardick.
[1] In 1974, the POA launched its first industrial action, at St Patrick's Institution.
It joined the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in 1981, and undertook its first national strike in 1988, following a dispute over attendance requirements.