Maze Prison site "has great potential", Assembly told

The potential of the former Maze prison site must be matched by political action to kick-start its full redevelopment, the First Minister has said.

Michelle O’Neill revealed she and deputy First Minister Emma Little Pengelly are set to meet with the board of the development corporation tasked with transforming the Maze/Long Kesh to discuss a way forward.

The derelict paramilitary prison only compromises part of the huge 347 acre site near Lisburn that falls under the remit of the Maze Long Kesh Development Corporation, which was established in 2011.

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While there has been some development – most significantly the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society becoming an anchor tenant and moving the annual Balmoral Show to the venue – the wider transformation of the site has been stalled for over a decade. The Ulster Aviation Society and the Northern Ireland Air Ambulance also operate out of the site.

The full regeneration plan hit the buffers in 2013 when former DUP first minister Peter Robinson blocked efforts to build a peace centre as part of the redevelopment of the sprawling grounds which once housed the high-security jail and were gifted to the Northern Ireland Executive by the UK Government.

The prison held paramilitary inmates during the Troubles and was the location for republican hunger strikes in 1981 in which 10 died, including Bobby Sands. Mr Robinson’s move came amid unionist concerns about the symbolism of building a peace centre on the site of the prison.

A political impasse has continued since. In 2019 the corporation said it was setting aside the plan for the peace centre as it focused on progressing the wider redevelopment.

The corporation has said the site has the potential to generate 5,000 jobs and deliver more than £300 million of investment through social and economic regeneration.

Sinn Fein vice president Ms O’Neill told the Assembly on Monday that she wanted to work with her DUP partner-in-government, Ms Little-Pengelly, to realise the site’s potential.

“It has great potential in itself but also can be an economic driver, not just for Lagan Valley, but for the whole region,” she said.

“The site has immense potential as an economic hub with around one million people living within 30 minutes of it, and it occupies a strategic location on the key transport corridor (M1).

“The three existing tenants on the site deliver unique and varied activities but illustrate what really can be achieved.”

She added: “We must build on the common ground that we all share and that is to realise the potential of the site for the benefit of all and we are absolutely committed to working with the development corporation to achieve that.”

Ms O’Neill was responding to an Assembly question from party colleague Colm Gildernew.

“We need to match the potential of the site with a similar level of ambition and, as I said, the site has such enormous potential for business, for housing, for recreation, for learning, for sport, for us all,” said the First Minister.

“I want to see the site developed in the same way that we have seen with the regeneration of other sites, particularly if you look at the Ebrington site and the Crumlin Road Gaol.

“You can see all those things that have opened up to be really inclusive spaces and are the building blocks for a shared society, so in terms of the next steps… the deputy First Minister and I have accepted an invitation to meet the board to take stock of the current position, to hear their thoughts on the development of a roadmap for the site. And that’s going to inform how we proceed.

“The scale of the investment will be huge for sure, but the cost of doing nothing is even greater. We don’t want to see any more delays. I think a regenerated MLK (Maze/Long Kesh) site will work for everyone. And I want to work with the deputy First Minister to see that happening.”

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