Maze Stadium Plans Delayed In Walkout

A walkout by unionist members of an Assembly committee has stalled today's planned presentation of the blueprint for a 35,000-seater sports stadium at the site of the former Maze prison.

Designers from HOK Sport, the GB-based company which also designed Wembley, were to have shown their plans to members of the Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee, but were instead left cooling their heels as committee members argued.

They were to take questions from the NI Assembly Sports Minister, Edwin Poots and other committee members, only to be refused the meeting as DUP and UUP members argued that they should first have been shown feasibility studies and business cases for the development.

The GAA, IFA and Ulster Rugby have all confirmed they would play at the stadium and have signed a document estimating minimum numbers of supporters they would hope to attract annually.

The stadium business case should have been ready for the autumn but the deadline passed, now the business cases for the stadium and the entire Maze site should be with Finance Minister Peter Robinson by the end of this week.

Senior civil servants have recommended the Maze plan goes ahead, but, unless the plan gets the backing of the DUP's Assembly party, Mr Robinson will find it virtually impossible to proceed.

Plans - supported by Sinn Fein - to retain an original H-Block cell wing and the former internment camp's prison hospital as a 'Conflict Transformation Centre' have led to a lukewarm response from the DUP on the overall project.

See: Maze decision time for Sports Minister

(BMcC)