Maze Prison could boost economic growth - O'Neill

The former Maze prison near Lisburn closed in 2000

The site of the former Maze prison could be "a huge catalyst for economic development and growth," according to the first minister.

Michelle O'Neill was speaking in the assembly, in response to a question from the Ulster Unionist Party assembly member (MLA) Lord Elliott.

BBC News NI recently revealed that the body in charge of Northern Ireland museums had been in talks about the future of the derelict jail.

The first minister said those talks had been about how National Museums NI could "contribute, based on their experience in working with historic and listed buildings."

O'Neill told MLAs that she and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly had toured the site during the summer and met with the board of the Maze Long Kesh Development Corporation (MLKDC) - the body set up in 2012 to redevelop the site.

"We must build on the common ground that I think we all share in terms of realising the potential of the site for the benefit of all," she said.

The first minister said she visited the site over the summer

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Education Minister Paul Givan recently said there would "never be a shrine" at the site of the former prison on the outskirts of Lisburn in County Antrim.

In 2013 the DUP leader at the time, Peter Robinson, blocked plans to build a peace centre at the Maze over claims the site would become a "shrine to terrorism."

Republican IRA and INLA inmates died during a hunger strike in the prison in 1981

The high-security jail held paramilitary prisoners during the decades-long conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles.

It was the site of the republican hunger strikes in 1981 during which 10 inmates starved themselves to death.

The annual Balmoral Show has since taken place on the Maze site for more than a decade.

The Ulster Aviation Society also uses wartime hangars at the Maze to house a collection of historic aircraft.

The site is now home to the Balmoral Show, the biggest agricultural event in Northern Ireland

O'Neill told MLAs that the Ulster Aviation Society's hangar at the Maze attracted about 7,000 visitors during the European Heritage Open Days in mid-September.

"We can find a way to unleash the potential of the site being sensitive to the listed buildings and making sure that we develop it as best as we possibly can," she said.

"We're absolutely committed to working with the corporation to achieve what we think is the huge potential on the site."

The first minister did not put a time-scale on any development at the Maze.

"It's quite a large infrastructure and quite a large project," she said.

"I don't think it's something that we turn over overnight, but certainly there's a political will in which to work together to develop the site."

'Benefit everybody'

In response to a further question from the Sinn Féin MLA Cathal Boylan, O'Neill said while "the scale of the investment is going to be so huge, but the cost of doing nothing would be much greater."

DUP MLA Trevor Clarke asked the first minister how any options for the Maze site would include the whole of the community.

"What we're talking about is how can we benefit everybody," O'Neill replied.

"How can everybody in our local economy benefit from what could be a potential catalyst for investment and economic growth, for job creation, for everything that whole site could open up."

"But we need to have a political agreement in terms of how we progress that."

She said the executive did not have a detailed plan "at this stage," as that was for the MLKDC to develop.

"But suffice to say there's a political will and a commitment in which to try to find a way that we can benefit everybody, and that we actually can realise the full potential of the site for everybody," she said.