Timeline of the Maze redevelopment saga - and the H-Blocks museum that has eluded Sinn Fein
What to do with the site in which Northern Ireland’s most dangerous terrorists were jailed has been at the heart of political disagreement for over a decade.
Eleven years ago, then-first minister Peter Robinson halted plans to redevelop the site after grassroots unionist concerns that the site would become a shrine to IRA terror.
Here are some key moments in the ongoing saga:
- January 2006. Maze development corporation unveils a plan to build a 42,500-seater multi-sports stadium and a “conflict transformation centre”.
- October 2006. Demolition of the prison began.
- June 2007. DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds said “whatever spin is deployed, the preservation of the H-Blocks - including the hospital wing - would become a shrine to the terrorists”. He said it was “quite clear now the price for Sinn Fein support for the Maze project including the stadium is a shrine to IRA terrorism” – amid an internal DUP dispute about where a new national stadium for Northern Ireland should be built.
- July 2007. Martin McGuinness opposes attempts by unionist politicians to de-list Maze buildings in which prisoners were housed.
- January 2009. DUP sports minister Gregory Campbell cancels plans for a stadium at the site, citing a lack of political consensus. He began to pursue upgrades of the existing Football, Rugby and GAA stadia.
- April 2013. Stormont’s SDLP environment minister Alex Attwood granted planning permission for the Maze to be redeveloped at a cost of £300m. It was intended to be a “peace centre” and contain an arena for agricultural shows.
- August 2013. DUP first minister Peter Robinson stalled the Maze plans – saying there must be a change of attitude by Sinn Fein towards victims of IRA violence.
- May 2019. Terence Brannigan, then chairman of the Maze Long Kesh Development Corporation, said that plans for a peace centre at the site had been “set aside” – partly because of lapsed EU funding and planning permission. He also acknowledged that the controversial ‘peace centre’ was had been “recognised as a potential barrier” to the site’s devlopment.