Her Majesty's Prison Maze (known colloquially as
The H Blocks,
Long Kesh, or
The Maze) was a
prisonA prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Other terms are penitentiary, correctional facility, and jail , although in the United States "jail" and "prison" refer to different subtypes of correctional facility...
used to house
paramilitaryA paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military force, but which is not regarded as having the same status...
prisoners during the
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
TroublesThe Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
from mid-1971 to mid-2000.
It is in the former
Royal Air ForceThe Royal Air Force is the United Kingdom's air force, the oldest independent air force in the world. Formed on 1 April 1918, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history ever since, playing a large part in World War II and in more recent conflicts.The RAF operates almost 1,109...
station at
Long KeshRAF Long Kesh was a Royal Air Force station at Maze, Lisburn, Northern Ireland, from 1941 until 1971.Various aircraft operated from the base during World War II, including the Supermarine Seafire and Spitfire....
near
LisburnLisburn is the third-largest city in Northern Ireland. It is situated south-west of Belfast on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down...
, nine miles (14 km) outside
BelfastBelfast is the capital of and the largest city in Northern Ireland, a constituent country of the United Kingdom. It is the seat of devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly. It is the largest urban area in the province of Ulster, and the second largest city on the island of...
, in
County AntrimCounty Antrim is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the province of Ulster and is part of Northern Ireland. It was named after the town of Antrim ....
, Northern Ireland. The prison and its inmates played a prominent role in recent
Irish historyThe history of Ireland began with the first known settlement in Ireland around 8000 BC, when hunter-gatherers arrived from continental Europe, probably via a land bridge. Few archaeological traces remain of this group, but their descendants and later Neolithic arrivals, particularly from the...
, notably in the
1981 hunger strikeThe 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during The Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government withdrew Special Category Status for convicted paramilitary prisoners...
. The prison was closed in 2000 and razing began on 30 October 2006.
Background
Following the introduction of
internmentInternment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of ‘interning’; confinement within the limits of a country or place"...
in 1971 "
Operation DemetriusOperation Demetrius began in Northern Ireland on the morning of Monday 9 August 1971. Operation Demetrius was launched by the British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary and involved arresting and interning people accused of being paramilitary members...
" was implemented by the
Royal Ulster ConstabularyThe Royal Ulster Constabulary GC was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary , the Belfast Borough Police Force and the Londonderry Borough Police Force...
(RUC) and
British ArmyThe British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and...
with raids for 452 suspects on 9 August, 1971. The RUC and army arrested 342 Catholics, but key
Provisional Irish Republican ArmyThe Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation which sought to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
(IRA) members had been tipped off and 104 of those arrested were released when it emerged they had no
paramilitaryA paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military force, but which is not regarded as having the same status...
connections. Those behind Operation Demetrius were accused of bungling, by arresting many of the wrong people and using out of date information. Later, some
loyalistsUlster loyalism is a militant unionist ideology held mostly by Protestants in Northern Ireland. Some individuals claim that Ulster loyalists are working-class unionists willing to use violence in order to achieve their aims...
were also arrested. By 1972 there were 924 internees and by the end of internment on 5 December 1975 1,981 people had been detained; 1,874 of whom were Catholic and 107 Protestants.
Initially the internees were housed, with different paramilitary groups separated from each other, in
Nissen hutThe Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure made from a half-cylindrical skin of corrugated steel, a variant of which was used extensively during the World War II by the Commonwealth and U.S...
s at a disused RAF airfield that became the Long Kesh Detention Centre. The internees and their supporters agitated for improvements in their conditions and status; they saw themselves as
political prisonerA political prisoner is someone held in prison or otherwise detained, perhaps under house arrest, for his or her involvement in political activity.-"Political" prisoner:...
s rather than common criminals. In July 1972 William Whitelaw introduced
Special Category StatusIn July 1972, William Whitelaw, the British government's Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, granted Special Category Status to all prisoners convicted of scheduled terrorist crimes...
for those sentenced for crimes relating to the civil violence. There were 1,100 Special Category Status prisoners at that time.
Special Category Status for convicted paramilitary-linked criminals gave them the same privileges previously available only to internees. These privileges included free association between prisoners, extra visits, food parcels and the right to wear their own clothes rather than prison uniforms .
However, Special Category Status was short-lived. As part of the government's policy of "criminalisation", and coinciding with the end of internment, the new
Secretary of State for Northern IrelandThe Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is the chief minister in the government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Northern Ireland, at the head of the Northern Ireland Office...
, Merlyn Rees, ended Special Category Status from 1 March, 1976. Those convicted of scheduled terrorist offences after that date were housed in the eight new "H-Blocks" that had been constructed at Long Kesh, now officially named Her Majesty's Prison Maze (HMP Maze). Existing prisoners remained in separate compounds and retained their Special Category Status with the last prisoner to hold this status released in 1986. Some prisoners changed from being Special Category Status prisoners to being common criminals within the space of several hours;
Brendan HughesBrendan Hughes , also known as "The Dark", was an Irish republican and former Officer Commanding of the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army , who was mainly known as the leader of the 1980 Irish hunger strike.-Background:Hughes was born into a republican family from the Lower...
, an IRA prisoner, had been imprisoned with Special Category Status in Cage 11 but was alleged to have been involved in a fight with warders. He was taken to court and convicted then returned to the jail as a common prisoner and incarcerated in the H-Blocks as an ordinary prisoner - all within the space of several hours.
H-Blocks
Prisoners convicted of terrorist offences after 1 March, 1976 were housed in the eight new "H-Blocks" that had been constructed at Long Kesh, now officially HM Prison Maze. Prisoners without Special Category Status began protesting for its return immediately after they were transferred to the H-Blocks. Their first act of defiance, initiated by
Kieran NugentKieran "Header" Nugent was a volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army and best known for being the first IRA 'blanket man' in the H-Blocks...
was to refuse to wear the prison uniforms, stating that convicted criminals wear uniforms, not political prisoners. Not allowed their own clothes, they wrapped themselves in bedsheets. Prisoners participating in the protest were "
on the blanketThe blanket protest was part of a five year protest during the Troubles by Provisional Irish Republican Army and Irish National Liberation Army prisoners held in the Maze prison in Northern Ireland. The republican prisoners' status as political prisoners, known as Special Category Status, had...
". By 1978 more than 300 men had joined the protest. The British Government refused to yield. Prison guards soon refused to let the blanket protesters use the toilets without proper uniforms. The prisoners refused, and instead began to defecate within their own cells, smearing excrement on the walls. This began the "
Dirty protestThe dirty protest was part of a five year protest during the Troubles by Provisional Irish Republican Army and Irish National Liberation Army prisoners held in the Maze prison and Armagh Women's Prison in Northern Ireland.-Background:Convicted paramilitary prisoners were treated as ordinary...
". But again the new 1979 government of
Margaret ThatcherMargaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher LG, OM, PC, FRS served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She is the only woman to have held either post....
stood firm.
Hunger strike
Republicans outside the prison took the battle to the media and both sides fought for public support. Inside the prison the prisoners took another step and organised a
hunger strikeA hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
.
On 27 October, 1980, seven Republican prisoners refused food and demanded political status. Thatcher's
ConservativeThe Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservatives, the Conservative Party, or Tory Party is a conservative political party in the United Kingdom...
government did not initially give in. In December the prisoners called off the hunger strike when the government appeared to concede their demands. However, the government immediately reverted to their previous stance, confident the prisoners would not start another strike.
Bobby SandsRobert Gerard Sands , commonly known as Bobby Sands, , was an Irish Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer and member of the United Kingdom Parliament who died on hunger strike while in HM Prison Maze .He was the leader of the 1981 hunger strike, in which Irish republican prisoners protested...
, the
Officer CommandingThe Officer Commanding is the commander of a sub-unit or minor unit in widespread military usage.Normally an Officer Commanding is a company, squadron or battery commander...
of the Provisional IRA prisoners, began a second action on 1 March, 1981. Outside the prison in a major publicity coup, Sands was nominated for Parliament and won the Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election. But the British government was still resisting and on 5 May, after 66 days on hunger strike, Sands died. More than 100,000 people attended Bobby Sands' funeral in
BelfastBelfast is the capital of and the largest city in Northern Ireland, a constituent country of the United Kingdom. It is the seat of devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly. It is the largest urban area in the province of Ulster, and the second largest city on the island of...
. Another nine hunger strikers (members of both the IRA and the
INLAThe Irish National Liberation Army or INLA is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group that was formed on 8 December 1974. Its goal is to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a united Ireland....
) died by the end of August before the hunger strike was called off in October.
Breakouts and attempted breakouts
On 25 September, 1983, the Maze suffered the largest breakout of prisoners from a British prison. Thirty-eight prisoners hijacked a prison meals lorry and smashed their way out. During the breakout four prison officers were stabbed, including one, James Ferris, who died of a heart attack as a result. Another officer was shot in the head, and several other officers were injured by the escapees. Nineteen of the prisoners were soon recaptured, but the remainder escaped.
In March 1997, an IRA escape attempt was foiled when a underground tunnel was found. The tunnel led from H-Block 7 and was short of the perimeter wall.
In December 1997, IRA prisoner Liam Averill escaped from the prison dressed as a woman during a
ChristmasChristmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days. The nativity of Jesus, which is the basis for the anno Domini...
party for prisoners' children.
Organisation
Over the 1980s the British government slowly introduced changes, granting what some would see as political status in all but name. Republican and loyalist prisoners were housed according to group. They organised themselves along military lines and exercised wide control over their respective H-Blocks. The
Loyalist Volunteer ForceThe Loyalist Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed by Billy Wright when the Mid-Ulster brigade of the UVF, which he commanded, was stood down by that organisation's leadership in Belfast. Wright subsequently broke away from the UVF to form a new rival...
(LVF) leader Billy Wright was killed in December 1997 by
Irish National Liberation ArmyThe Irish National Liberation Army or INLA is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group that was formed on 8 December 1974. Its goal is to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a united Ireland....
(INLA) prisoners.
Peace process
The prisoners also played a significant role in the
Northern Ireland peace processThe peace process, when discussing the history of Northern Ireland, is often considered to cover the events leading up to the 1994 Provisional Irish Republican Army ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of the Troubles, the Belfast Agreement, and subsequent political developments.-Towards a...
. On 9 January, 1998, the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland,
Mo MowlamMarjorie "Mo" Mowlam was a British Labour politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Redcar from 1997 to 2001, and served in the Cabinet as both Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.Mowlam's time as Northern Ireland Secretary saw the signing of the...
, paid a surprise visit to the prison to talk to members of the
Ulster Defence AssociationThe Ulster Defence Association is a loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland. Its main objective has been to reject unification of Ireland. The UDA is outlawed as a proscribed terrorist group in the United Kingdom....
/Ulster Freedom Fighters (UDA/UFF) including
Johnny AdairJonathan Adair, better known as Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair is the former leader of "C Company" of the Ulster Loyalist paramilitary organisation Ulster Freedom Fighters, a cover name of the Ulster Defence Association. Adair was expelled from the organisation in 2002 following a violent power struggle...
, Sam McCrory and
Michael StoneMichael Stone is a loyalist paramilitary who was born in England and then raised in the Braniel estate in East Belfast, Northern Ireland. Convicted of killing three people and injuring more than sixty in an attack on Irish Republican mourners at Milltown Cemetery in 1988, he was sentenced to life...
. They had voted for their political representatives to pull out of talks. Shortly after Mowlam's visit, they changed their minds, allowing their representatives to continue talks that would lead to the
Good Friday AgreementThe Agreement, also known as the Belfast Agreement or the Good Friday Agreement , and occasionally as the Stormont Agreement, was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process. It was signed in Belfast on 10 April 1998 by the British and Irish governments and endorsed by...
of 10 April, 1998. Afterwards, the prison was emptied of its paramilitary prisoners as the groups they represented agreed to the ceasefire. In the two years following the agreement, 428 prisoners were released. On 29 September, 2000, the remaining four prisoners at Maze were transferred to other establishments in Northern Ireland and the Maze prison was closed.
Future
A monitoring group was set up on 14 January 2003 to debate the future of the site. With close motorway and rail links, there were many proposals including a museum, a multi-purpose sports stadium and an office, hotel and leisure village. In January 2006 the government unveiled a masterplan for the site incorporating many of these proposals, including a 45,000 seat national multi-sport stadium for football, rugby and Gaelic games. This proposal has raised concerns among sports fans, particularly Rugby and Football fans and online petitions such as the one at
Stadium For Belfast have been created to run alongside fan surveys. More detailed information can be found on the official
website.
In October 2006, demolition work started in preparation for construction on the site.
Recently, January 2009 plans to build the new £300 million
multi-purpose stadiumMulti-purpose stadiums are a type of stadium designed for use by multiple teams playing baseball, American football, soccer, and, in some cases, basketball and ice hockey or other sports...
on the site of The Maze were officially and formally axed with politicians saying plans to start the construction of the stadium wouldn't be reconsidered for another 3 to 4 years.
Discussion is still ongoing as to the listed status of sections of the old prison. The hospital and part of the H-Blocks are currently listed buildings, and would remain as part of the proposed site redevelopment as a "conflict transformation centre" with support from republicans such as
Martin McGuinnessJames Martin Pacelli McGuinness is an Irish politician and the current deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland....
and opposition from unionists like
Nigel DoddsNigel Alexander Dodds, OBE, MP, MLA, BL is a barrister and Northern Irish unionist politician. He is Member of Parliament for Belfast North, and a member of the Democratic Unionist Party. He has been Lord Mayor of Belfast twice, and from 1993 has been General Secretary of the DUP. Since June 2008...
who are against erecting a memorial to those who died during the hunger strike.
External links
- Maze Prison - MazePrison.Com History Behind The Wire
- BBC: Inside the Maze, a history
- Jonathan Glancey , New Statesman
The New Statesman is a British left-wing political magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
, May 31, 2004 Hell on earth
- CNN Special on the Maze
- Luxury hotel, equestrian centre, cinema complex - welcome to the new Maze — The Guardian
The Guardian is a British daily newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. Founded in 1821, it is unique among major British newspapers in being owned by a foundation .The Guardian Weekly, which circulates worldwide, provides a compact digest of four newspapers...
newspaper article, 31 May 2006
- Inside Long Kesh Irish documentary about The Maze prison released after its closure.
- 1981 Irish Hunger strike Site
- Long Kesh song lyrics guitar chords and video
- Archaeology at the Maze/Long Kesh Site, Northern Ireland (Laura McAtackney)