Editing HM Prison Maze

{{Short description|1971–2000 prison in Northern Ireland}}
{{Redirect|H-Blocks|the German rock band|H-Blockx}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox Prison
|prison_name    = Her Majesty's Prison Maze 
|image          = Maze Prison - geograph - 341034.jpg
|location       = [[Maze, County Down|Maze]], [[County Down]],<br />[[Northern Ireland]]
|status         = Partly demolished
|classification = High
|capacity       = Variable
|opened         = 9 August 1971
|closed         = 29 September 2000
|managed_by     = [[Northern Ireland Prison Service]]
|coordinates    = {{Coord|54|29|19|N|6|6|27|W|region:GB-LBC_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
}}

'''HM Prison Maze''' (previously '''Long Kesh Detention Centre''', and known colloquially as '''the Maze''' or '''H-Blocks''') was a [[prison]] in [[Northern Ireland]] that was used to house [[paramilitary]] prisoners during the [[The Troubles|Troubles]] from August 1971 to September 2000. On 15 October 1974 [[Irish republicanism|Irish Republican]] internees burned 21 of the compounds used to house the internees thereby destroying much of Long Kesh.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://republican-news.org/current/news/2014/11/the_burning_of_long_kesh_1.html |title=''The burning of Long Kesh'' |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=22 November 2014 |website=Irish Republican News |publisher=RM Distribution |access-date=26 July 2023 |quote=}}</ref>

The prison was situated at the former [[Royal Air Force]] station of [[RAF Long Kesh|Long Kesh]], on the outskirts of [[Lisburn]]. This was in the [[townland]] of [[Maze (electoral ward)|Maze]], about {{convert|9|mi|km|spell=in}} southwest of [[Belfast]]. The prison and its inmates were involved in such events as the [[1981 Irish hunger strike|1981 hunger strike]]. The prison was closed in 2000 and demolition began on 30 October 2006, but on 18 April 2013 it was announced by the [[Northern Ireland Executive]] that the remaining buildings would be redeveloped into a peace centre,<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/apr/18/maze-prison-redevelopment-green-light|title = Maze prison redevelopment gets green light|newspaper = The Guardian|date = 18 April 2013|last1 = McDonald|first1 = Henry|access-date = 11 December 2016|archive-date = 27 January 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170127210708/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/apr/18/maze-prison-redevelopment-green-light|url-status = live}}</ref> however these plans were later abandoned.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-48229968|title=Maze peace centre: Developers say plan 'set aside'|publisher=BBC|date=10 May 2019|accessdate=10 September 2023}}</ref>

==Background==
[[File:Compound 19.JPG|thumb|right|The entrance to Compound 19]]

Following the introduction of [[internment]] in 1971, [[Operation Demetrius]] was implemented by the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] (RUC) and [[British Army]] with raids for 452 suspects on 9 August 1971. The RUC and army arrested 342 [[Irish nationalist]]s, but key [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] (IRA) members had been tipped off and 104 of those arrested were released when it emerged they had no paramilitary connections.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vpgmCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA126 |page=126 |title=The Troubles: Ireland's Ordeal 1966–1995 and the Search for Peace |isbn=9781784975388 |last1=Coogan |first1=Tim Pat |date=16 December 2015 |publisher=Head of Zeus |access-date=2 October 2020 |archive-date=26 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210926145045/https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Troubles/vpgmCwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA126&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref> Those behind Operation Demetrius were accused of bungling  the raids by arresting many of the wrong people and using out-of-date information. Following nationalist protests, some [[Ulster loyalism|Ulster loyalists]] 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 (94.6%) of whom were [[Irish Catholics|Catholic/Irish nationalist]] and 107 (5.4%) [[Ulster Protestant]]s/loyalists.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/events/intern/sum.htm|title=CAIN: Events: Internment: Summary of events|website=cain.ulster.ac.uk|access-date=30 June 2021|archive-date=28 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828025847/https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/events/intern/sum.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Initially, the internees were housed with different paramilitary groups separated from each other, in [[Nissen hut]]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 prisoner]]s rather than common criminals. In July 1972, the [[Secretary of State for Northern Ireland]], [[William Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw|William Whitelaw]] introduced [[Special Category Status]] 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 prisoners 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.<ref>Crawford, Colin (1979), ''Long Kesh: an alternative perspective''.</ref>

However, Special Category Status was short-lived. As part of a new British policy of "[[Criminalization|criminalisation]]" and coinciding with the end of internment, the new Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, [[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 being released in 1986. Some prisoners changed from being Special Category Status prisoners to being common criminals. [[Brendan Hughes]], 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.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7HRGPgAACAAJ |title = Nothing but an Unfinished Song: The Life and Times of Bobby Sands|isbn = 9781560258889|last1 = O'Hearn|first1 = Denis|date = 8 December 2006| publisher=PublicAffairs }}</ref>

{{anchor|H-Blocks}}

== H-Blocks ==

Prisoners convicted of [[Special Criminal Court#Scheduled offences|scheduled offences]] after 1 March 1976 were housed in the "H-Blocks" that had been newly constructed. 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 Nugent]], was to refuse to wear the prison uniforms, stating that convicted criminals, and not political prisoners, wear uniforms. Not allowed their own clothes, they wrapped themselves in bedsheets. Prisoners participating in the protest were "[[Blanket protest|on the blanket]]". By 1978, more than 300 men had joined the protest. The [[British government]] refused to back down.

In March 1978, some prisoners refused to leave their cells to shower or use the lavatory because they were being beaten when they did, and were provided with wash-hand basins in their cells.<ref name="mult">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=czdpQgAACAAJ |pages=351–352 |title=The Provisional IRA |isbn=9780552133371 |last1=Bishop |first1=Patrick |last2=Mallie |first2=Eamonn |year=1988 |publisher=Corgi |access-date=15 November 2019 |archive-date=3 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803053107/https://books.google.com/books?id=czdpQgAACAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F-qKAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT356 |page=356 |title=Brits: The War Against the IRA |isbn=9781408854921 |last1=Taylor |first1=Peter |date=29 May 2014 |publisher=Bloomsbury }}</ref> Prisoners "on the blanket" reported that one of the things that caused the most stress was "...waiting for the moment the cell door would open and they would be dragged out, naked and defenseless, and then pounded into semi-consciousness before being thrown back in again".<ref>{{Cite web|author=Guardian Staff|date=2008-10-21|title=Life and death in Long Kesh – a new film about the notorious Maze prison in Northern Ireland|url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/oct/22/maze-prison-film-northernireland-hunger|access-date=2021-06-30|website=the Guardian|language=en|archive-date=11 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711001215/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/oct/22/maze-prison-film-northernireland-hunger|url-status=live}}</ref>

Republican prisoners were also abused prior to and upon entering the Maze. Writing about the abuse of prisoners [[Queen's University Belfast]] academic Prof [[Phil Scraton]] stated: "...it is evident they endured unacceptable levels of physical and psychological punishment, violence and violation. Administered purposefully, without the checks and balances of state institutional accountability, it constituted cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment/ punishment within the UN General Assembly’s 1975 definition of torture."<ref>{{cite news |last=Morris |first=Allison |date=1 October 2020 |title=Republican prisoners subjected to inhuman treatment, report finds |url=https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2020/10/01/news/panel-report-on-long-term-impact-of-republican-prison-protests-2083574/ |work=The Irish News |location=Northern Ireland |access-date=15 February 2024}}</ref> In 1978, the British government was found guilty and censured by the [[European Court of Human Rights]] for "cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment in the interrogation procedures".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Some Examples of Human Rights Abuses in Northern Ireland: The Use of Plastic Bullets and Strip Searches of Women {{!}}|url=http://www.irishnationalcaucus.org/some-examples-of-human-rights-abuses-in-northern-ireland-the-use-of-plastic-bullets-and-strip-searches-of-women/|access-date=2021-06-30|archive-date=21 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521172810/http://www.irishnationalcaucus.org/some-examples-of-human-rights-abuses-in-northern-ireland-the-use-of-plastic-bullets-and-strip-searches-of-women/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The prisoners requested that showers be installed in their cells; and when this request was turned down, they refused to use the wash-hand basins.<ref name="mult"/> At the end of April 1978, a fight occurred between a prisoner and a prison officer in H-Block 6. The prisoner was taken away to [[solitary confinement]], and rumours spread across the wing that the prisoner had been badly beaten.<ref name="mult"/> The prisoners responded by smashing the furniture in their cells, forcing the prison authorities to remove the remaining furniture from the cells, leaving only blankets and mattresses.<ref name="mult"/> The prisoners responded by refusing to leave their cells and, as a result, the prison officers were unable to clear them. This resulted in the blanket protest escalating into the [[dirty protest]], as the prisoners would not leave their cells to "[[slop out]]" (i.e., empty their chamber pots), and started smearing excrement on the walls of their cells to "mitigate the spread of maggots".<ref name="mult"/>

===Hunger strike===
{{Main|1981 Irish hunger strike}}
[[File:h-block corridor.jpg|right|thumb|A view along the corridor of one of the wings of H4]]

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 strike]].

On 27 October 1980, seven republican prisoners refused food and demanded political status. The [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] government led by [[Margaret Thatcher]] did not initially give in. In December, the prisoners called off the hunger strike when the government appeared to concede to their demands. However, the government immediately reverted to their previous stance, in the belief that the prisoners would not start another strike. [[Bobby Sands]], the leader 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 [[April 1981 Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election|Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election]]. But the British government still resisted and on 5 May, after 66 days on hunger strike, Sands died. More than 100,000 people attended Sands' funeral in [[Belfast]]. Another nine hunger strikers (members of both the IRA and the [[Irish National Liberation Army|INLA]]) died by the end of August before the hunger strike was called off in October.

===Breakouts and attempted breakouts===
{{See also|Maze Prison escape}}

On 25 September 1983, the Maze saw the biggest prison escape in British peacetime history. 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. Another officer was shot in the head by [[Gerry Kelly]], and several other officers were injured by the escapees.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/25/newsid_2538000/2538295.stm |title=1983: Dozens escape in Maze break-out |work=[[BBC News]] |date=1983 |access-date=3 September 2008 |archive-date=23 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071223002518/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/25/newsid_2538000/2538295.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Nineteen of the prisoners were soon recaptured, but the other nineteen escaped.

In March 1997, an IRA escape attempt was foiled when a {{convert|40|ft|m|abbr=on}} tunnel was found. The tunnel led from H-Block 7 and was {{convert|80|ft|m|abbr=on}} short of the perimeter wall.

In December 1997, IRA prisoner [[Liam Averill]] escaped dressed as a woman during a [[Christmas]] party for prisoners' children.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/696991.stm|title=Re-arrest escaped IRA killer|work=[[BBC News]]|date=31 March 2000|access-date=25 July 2010|archive-date=9 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090809183836/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/696991.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> Averill, who was jailed for life after committing two murders, was not recaptured, and was instead given amnesty in early 2001 when he was one of a number of republican escapees to present themselves to the authorities in a two-week period.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1328098/Anger-as-fugitive-IRA-terrorists-are-given-their-freedom.html|title=Anger as fugitive IRA terrorists are given their freedom|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=28 March 2001|access-date=6 July 2011|archive-date=23 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111123150805/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1328098/Anger-as-fugitive-IRA-terrorists-are-given-their-freedom.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Organisation===
During 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 Force]] (LVF) leader [[Billy Wright (terrorist)|Billy Wright]] was shot dead in December 1997 by two [[Irish National Liberation Army]] (INLA) prisoners.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/sep/14/billy-wright-murder-report-maze | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Henry | last=McDonald | title=Billy Wright murder: father could take legal action | date=14 September 2010 | access-date=11 December 2016 | archive-date=30 July 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730021410/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/sep/14/billy-wright-murder-report-maze | url-status=live }}</ref>

==Peace process==
[[File:HblockMonument073107.jpg|thumb|H-Block monument in the [[Bogside]] area of [[Derry]]; in memory of the 1981 hunger strikers who died at the prison.]]

The prisoners also played a significant role in the [[Northern Ireland peace process]]. On 9 January 1998, the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, [[Mo Mowlam]], paid a surprise visit to the prison to talk to members of the [[Ulster Defence Association]] including [[Johnny Adair]], [[Sam McCrory (loyalist)|Sam "Skelly" McCrory]] and [[Michael Stone (loyalist)|Michael Stone]]. 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 [[Belfast Agreement|Good Friday Agreement]] 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 the Maze were transferred to other prisons in Northern Ireland and the Maze Prison was closed.

==Maze Long Kesh Development Corporation==
A monitoring group was set up on 14 January 2003 to debate the future of the {{convert|360|acre|km2|adj=on}} 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<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4663512.stm|work=[[BBC News]]|title=First peek at Maze masterplan|date=30 January 2006|access-date=18 October 2006|first=Gareth|last=Gordon|archive-date=6 February 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060206224256/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4663512.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> for the site incorporating many of these proposals, including a 45,000 seat national multi-sport stadium for [[association football|football]], [[rugby football|rugby]] and [[Gaelic games]]. The Government's infrastructure organisation, the Strategic Investment Board (SIB), was tasked with taking forward the proposed stadium idea and appointed one of its senior advisers, Tony Whitehead, to manage the project. The capacity of the proposed stadium was later adjusted to first 35,000 and then 38,000 and the organising bodies of all three sports – [[Irish Football Association|Irish FA]], [[Ulster Rugby]] and [[Ulster GAA]] – agreed in principle to support the integrated scheme. In October 2006, demolition work started in preparation for construction on the site.

In January 2009, plans to build the new [[multi-purpose stadium]] on the site of the prison were cancelled, with the [[Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure]], [[Gregory Campbell (politician)|Gregory Campbell]], citing a lack of support and concerns for a net loss to the economy.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Gordon|first1=Gareth|title=No sports stadium at prison site|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7856036.stm|website=BBC News|publisher=BBC|access-date=22 March 2017|date=28 January 2009|archive-date=23 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170323060237/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7856036.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

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 McGuinness]] and opposition from unionists, who consider that this risks creating "a shrine to the IRA".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6279442.stm|work=[[BBC News]]|title=Maze must keep status: McGuinness|date=7 July 2007|access-date=25 July 2010|archive-date=16 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071216184057/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6279442.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

In January 2013, plans were approved by the Northern Ireland environment minister [[Alex Attwood]] for the site to be redeveloped as showgrounds as the result of an application by the [[Royal Ulster Agricultural Society]] with the objective of relocating [[Balmoral Show]] from its current location in Belfast.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.bdonline.co.uk/news/green-light-for-maze-prison-site/5048308.article | title=Green light for Maze prison site | publisher=BDOnline | date=8 January 2013 | access-date=21 January 2013 | author=Klettner, Andrea | archive-date=27 November 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141127232308/http://www.bdonline.co.uk/news/green-light-for-maze-prison-site/5048308.article | url-status=live }}</ref> The site is now known as [[Balmoral Park, Lisburn|Balmoral Park]].

In October 2019, the [[European Union]] withdrew £18m that had been approved to develop a peace centre, due to disagreements between [[Sinn Féin]] and the [[Democratic Unionist Party]].<ref>{{cite news |publisher=BreakingNews.ie |title=Plans for Maze prison peace centre 'set aside' |date=October 5, 2019 |url=https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/plans-for-maze-prison-peace-centre-set-aside-923339.html |access-date=4 November 2019 |archive-date=4 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191104004303/https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/plans-for-maze-prison-peace-centre-set-aside-923339.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In April 2020, the former prison was reportedly under consideration for conversion into a temporary hospital during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Coronavirus: Military Advising Over Design Of Northern Ireland Hospital |url=https://www.forces.net/news/coronavirus-military-advising-design-northern-ireland-hospital |access-date=12 August 2021 |work=[[BFBS]] |date=21 April 2020 |archive-date=25 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125105845/https://www.forces.net/news/coronavirus-military-advising-design-northern-ireland-hospital |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2025, it was revealed that the regeneration project would be limited to "health and safety".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-03-13 |title=Maze Prison regeneration 'limited to health and safety' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwye14x7j5go |access-date=2025-03-15 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.mazeprison.com: Maze Prison – MazePrison.Com History Behind The Wire]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/northern_ireland/2000/maze_prison/default.stm BBC: Inside the Maze, a history]
* Jonathan Glancey, ''[[New Statesman]]'', 31 May 2004 [https://web.archive.org/web/20050130150027/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FQP/is_4690_133/ai_n6155357 Hell on earth]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060310222227/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/n.ireland/maze.html CNN Special on the Maze]
* [https://www.theguardian.com/Northern_Ireland/Story/0,,1786418,00.html Luxury hotel, equestrian centre, cinema complex – welcome to the new Maze] – ''[[The Guardian]]'' newspaper article, 31 May 2006
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041217024917/http://www.bris.ac.uk/archanth/research/postgraduate/mcatackney.html Archaeology at the Maze/Long Kesh Site, Northern Ireland (Laura McAtackney)]

{{The Troubles}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maze (Hm Prison)}}
[[Category:1971 establishments in Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:2000 disestablishments in Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in County Down]]
[[Category:Defunct prisons in Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Internment camps during the Troubles (Northern Ireland)]]
[[Category:Lisburn]]
[[Category:The Troubles in County Down]]