Maze prison will never be shrine - DUP minister

The body in charge of Northern Ireland museums has been in talks about the future of the former Maze prison site near Lisburn.

A planned £300m redevelopment of the site has been in limbo for 11 years after a political row.

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

National Museums NI said it had discussed what role it could play in the "interpretation of and access to" the former prison. Stormont's Executive Office said "no decisions have yet been made".

The Maze prison, which closed in 2000, held paramilitary inmates and was the site of the republican hunger strikes in 1981.

Most buildings have been demolished, but some were retained.

In August 2013, Stormont's then first minister Peter Robinson, of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), blocked a plan to build a peace centre on the site.

It was set to be part of a major redevelopment of the wider 347-acre ground - one of Northern Ireland's largest development sites in public ownership.

Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness, the then deputy first minister, later said that no further development would take place until the dispute was resolved.

Since then, the stalemate has led to many requests to visit the prison buildings being refused by the Executive Office (TEO) - the first and deputy first ministers' joint government department.

It was meant to be a beacon of peace and prosperity, but has been stuck in a political stand-off.

Eleven years have passed since Peter Robinson's letter from Florida halting plans for a peace centre at the former Maze prison site.

As Stormont's first minister, he had faced pressure from unionist rivals who claimed it would become a "shrine to terrorism".

Some parts of the sprawling site near Lisburn have been put to use.

The annual agricultural event, the Balmoral Show, has been held there since 2013, while Northern Ireland's Air Ambulance also operates from the site.

But there has long been a political stalemate over a wider regeneration plan, which the site's development body has said could bring about £800m of investment and up to 14,000 jobs.

National Museums NI has experience of sensitively handling exhibitions and events about Northern Ireland's divisive and troubled past.

No firm plans are yet on the table, but its input could help unlock the site's full potential.

In April, senior officials from National Museums NI (NMNI) met the Maze Long Kesh Development Corporation (MLKDC) - set up in 2012 to redevelop the site.

A "draft partnership agreement" between the two bodies is "in development", according to minutes of the meeting.

It was noted the arrangement could "only be activated once there was political agreement on the way forward".

On the former prison site, it was noted an NMNI official "highlighted the need for a political mandate to allow NMNI to manage this under agreed criteria".

NMNI, which is responsible for sites including Belfast's Ulster Museum, has many years of experience of delivering Troubles-related exhibitions and events.

A spokeswoman said: "It is our understanding that the Maze Long Kesh Development Corporation has been tasked with exploring options for the future development of the site.

"Within that context we have discussed what, if any, role we could play in supporting the interpretation of and access to the heritage buildings, including the Second World War hangars and the prison buildings.

"This would be as an extension of our relevant work at our museums. However, any decisions on the future of the site rest solely with executive ministers."

First Minister Michelle O'Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly recently met the MLKDC board to discuss the "huge potential" of the site, the Executive Office said.

"No proposals have been put to TEO for consideration in relation to NMNI. No decisions have yet been made about the future of the site," said a spokesperson.

Bryan Gregory, interim chief executive of the MLKDC, said it was "continuing to explore options" for regenerating the site.

Alliance Party MP Sorcha Eastwood called for greater efforts to reach an agreement.

"The stock response of acknowledging the potential but doing nothing can no longer hold," she said.

"Now is the time for plans, timelines and political commitment.

"Given the recent government announcement about GB Energy, the site could play a major role in green skills and upskilling people for jobs for the future."