International conference denied access to Maze Prison site

An international conference on prison facilities to be held in Belfast has been denied access to the former Maze Prison site.

The first and deputy first ministers' office blocked the request from the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS), which is hosting the International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA) event in October.

The site has been in limbo for 12 years due to a political stalemate over the old prison buildings, which held paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles.

The Alliance Party said it was "yet another missed opportunity", but Stormont's Executive Office (TEO) said access was "considered on a case-by-case basis".

It said the "condition and facilities" meant it was "not suitable for general public access".

It added: "The sensitivity surrounding the site must also be given consideration."

Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) said the recent dispute over a statue of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands in west Belfast showed it was "utterly illogical" to argue the jail where he died "can move beyond controversy".

The former prison outside Lisburn was the site of republican hunger strikes in 1981 during which 10 inmates starved themselves to death.

It was closed in 2000 and while most of the prison buildings have been demolished, some were retained and listed.

More than 700 delegates from around 90 countries are expected in Belfast for the ICPA's annual conference.

The event will include "visits to prison-related sites", the Department of Justice (DOJ) said.

It said that "as part of early planning for the final day of the conference" an application was submitted last October "to visit the Maze/Long Kesh site".

"That request was not approved," the department said in a statement.

The matter was discussed by Maze Long Kesh Development Corporation (MLKDC) - a Stormont body set up to regenerate the site.

Its board agreed to hold "further discussions" with the NIPS, according to recently released minutes.

Requests to visit the site must be approved by First Minister Michelle O'Neill, from Sinn Féin, and Deputy First Minister Emma Little Pengelly, of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

Last year it emerged they had approved fewer than half of requests since Stormont's devolved government was restored in 2024.

The 350-acre site is one of Northern Ireland's largest development sites in public ownership.

In August 2013, then first minister and DUP leader Peter Robinson blocked a plan to build a peace centre.

It followed pressure from unionists who claimed the site would become a "shrine to terrorism".

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

Some parts of the site are being used, with the Air Ambulance Northern Ireland and Ulster Aviation Society based there and the Balmoral Show agricultural event held annually.

But plans for wider regeneration have remained in limbo.

MLKDC has previously said the site could bring £800m of investment and up to 14,000 jobs.

Alliance Party assembly member Michelle Guy said the site had "vast economic and social potential".

"The decision by the first and deputy first ministers to block this request is yet another missed opportunity for this site, raising further questions about their commitment to its development," she said.

"The ongoing refusal of Sinn Féin and the DUP to agree on a way forward is beyond frustrating."

Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) assembly member Sinéad McLaughlin, who sits on the TEO scrutiny committee, said the decision was "short-sighted".

"Locking out international delegates from access to the former Maze Prison risks sending the message that Northern Ireland is still unable to deal constructively with difficult aspects of our history," she added.

The issue has emerged amid a continuing political dispute over an unauthorised statue of Bobby Sands in the Twinbrook estate.

O'Neill, Sinn Féin's deputy leader, and other elected representatives from the party were among those who attended the unveiling last year.

TUV legacy spokesperson Sammy Morrison reiterated his party's calls for the remaining prison structures to be "de-listed and demolished".

Morrison added that "innocent victims are resolutely opposed to opening up the buildings".

In a statement The Executive Office said: "The condition and facilities at the former Maze Long Kesh prison are such that it is not suitable for general public access.

"The sensitivity surrounding the site must also be given consideration.

"Requests for access are considered on a case-by-case basis, taking account of these factors."

The Department of Justice said the ICPA event was the "first conference of its kind" in Northern Ireland and it would provide a "significant boost to the local hospitality and tourism sector".

It said the denial of access to the Maze site "will have no impact on the delivery of the conference".

"NIPS looks forward to welcoming delegates to Belfast and delivering a successful international conference," it added.

"The conference will bring together practitioners and academics from across the world to discuss modern corrections and provide an opportunity to showcase how the Northern Ireland Prison Service is leading the way internationally, particularly in its approach to the rehabilitation and reintegration of people in custody."

ICPA provided the same statement.