DUP committed to Maze/Long Kesh redevelopment - but not to 'glorifying' terrorists
The DUP has said it remains committed to developing the economic potential of the former Maze prison site, but will continue to oppose any proposals that would “glorify” the terrorists who once occupied it.
The party spokesperson was commenting after Michelle O’Neill said a meeting will take place with the Maze/Long Kesh development corporation to discuss plans to “realise the site's potential”.
Sinn Fein vice-president and Northern Ireland’s first minister Ms O’Neill will be joined by the deputy first minister, Emma Little Pengelly, in a joint effort to kick-start the stalled project.
The derelict prison only comprises part of the huge 347 acre site that falls under the remit of the Maze Long Kesh Development Corporation, which was established in 2011.
A 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 NI 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.
On Monday, Ms O’Neill told the NI Assembly that she wanted to work with her DUP partner-in-government, Ms Little-Pengelly, to realise the site's potential.
However, the DUP has warned that its position on any potential shrine to terrorists has not changed.
“We have always been strong advocates of developing the economic potential of the Maze site given its key geographic location.
"Any future development can only be on the basis of full sensitivity to victims and survivors and we will not support anything that glorifies or re-writes the terrorism of the past,” a party spokesman told the News Letter.
Speaking in the assembly, Ms O’Neill said: “It has great potential in itself but also can be an economic driver, not just for Lagan Valley , but for the whole region.
"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).”
Ms O’Neill made her comments in response to a question from party colleague Colm Gildernew.
She said: "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.”
At present, the site has the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society is the anchor tenant, while the Ulster Aviation Society and the NI Air Ambulance also operate out of the Maze.