The future of the former Maze Prison site is “very much a live issue”, Stormont First Minister Michelle O’Neill has said.
Political leaders over decades have been unable to agree what to do with the derelict jail, which held paramilitary inmates including 10 republican hunger strikers who died during 1981/2.
It officially closed in 2000, and while most of the buildings have been demolished, H block and the former hospital wing have been preserved.
While some development has taken place on the wider 347-acre site near Lisburn, including the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society becoming an anchor tenant and moving the annual Balmoral Show to the venue, there has been no agreement on a full regeneration plan.
Speaking during questions for the Executive Office in the Assembly on Monday, Ms O’Neill said she “hasn’t given up” on finding agreement.
In response to a request for an update from Alliance MLA Michelle Guy, Ms O’Neill said she and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly are “committed to working with the Maze Long Kesh Board to maximise these opportunities for the benefit of all”.
But the First Minister said they recognise that “would require us to move with consensus and sensitivity”.
“We are committed to working with the corporation to achieve that,” she told MLAs.
“We are considered advice from officials on short to medium term priorities and options for the board.
“Discussions are ongoing at an official level, and over the coming weeks, we expect to receive further input to help frame our consideration of the way forward.
“We can assure the member that the future of the site very much remains a live issue which we are committed to resolving.”
Ms Guy put to Ms O’Neill that she last met with the board of the Maze Long Kesh Development Corporation was in July 2024.
Ms O’Neill said she will meet with the board “in the very near future”.
“There needs to be a political agreement in which to move this site forward, and I want that,” she said.
“I do think that we can strike the right balance in terms of having the historical and the economic and the social inclusion aspects of the site all delivered upon, but that requires political will across all and unfortunately, that’s not there.
“But that’s not to say that I accept that, or I give up on that, because I’m going to continue to try to move this forward.”
Ms O’Neill said there are ways to move forward with the site which are “respectful, dignified, that preserves the historical nature of the site”, but also for economic opportunity.
“So I hope that we can get to that juncture,” she added.
“It’s been a long time in the making, but I want to commend the people in the board for keeping things in a state of readiness.
“But clearly, what we need here is a political agreement in which to step forward and actually develop the site.”
