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Maze (HM Prison)
Encyclopedia
Her Majesty's Prison Maze (known colloquially as Maze Prison, The Maze, The H Blocks or Long Kesh) was a prison
in Northern Ireland
that was used to house paramilitary
prisoners during the Troubles
from mid-1971 to mid-2000.
It was situated in the former Royal Air Force
station of Long Kesh
, on the outskirts of Lisburn
. This was in the townland
of Maze, about nine miles (14 km) southwest of Belfast
. The prison and its inmates played a prominent role in recent Irish history
, notably in the 1981 hunger strike
. The prison was closed in 2000 and demolition began on 30 October 2006, but (as of 2010) has been halted.
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 Catholics, 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. Those behind Operation Demetrius were accused of bungling, by arresting many of the wrong people and using out of date information. Later, some 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 (95%) of whom were Catholic and 107 (5%) Protestants.
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 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.
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 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 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.
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 "on the blanket
". 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 protest
". But again the new 1979 government of Margaret Thatcher
did not respond.
.
On 27 October 1980, seven Republican prisoners refused food and demanded political status. Thatcher's Conservative
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 Sands
, the Officer Commanding
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 Belfast
. Another nine hunger strikers (members of both the IRA and the INLA
) died by the end of August before the hunger strike was called off in October.
In March 1997, an IRA escape attempt was foiled when a 40 ft (12.2 m) underground tunnel was found. The tunnel led from H-Block 7 and was 80 ft (24.4 m) short of the perimeter wall.
In December 1997, IRA prisoner Liam Averill escaped from the prison dressed as a woman during a Christmas
party for prisoners' children. 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.
(LVF) leader Billy Wright was shot dead in December 1997 by two Irish National Liberation Army
(INLA) prisoners.
. 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
/Ulster Freedom Fighters (UDA/UFF) including Johnny Adair
, Sam McCrory and 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 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 Maze were transferred to other establishments in Northern Ireland and the Maze prison was closed.
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 stadium
on the site of The Maze were cancelled, with politicians saying plans to start the construction of the stadium would not be reconsidered until at least 2012.
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".
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
that was used to house paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
prisoners during the Troubles
The Troubles
The 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 was situated in the former Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
station of Long Kesh
RAF Long Kesh
RAF 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....
, on the outskirts of Lisburn
Lisburn
DemographicsLisburn Urban Area is within Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area and is classified as a Large Town by the . On census day there were 71,465 people living in Lisburn...
. This was in the townland
Townland
A townland or bally is a small geographical division of land used in Ireland. The townland system is of Gaelic origin—most townlands are believed to pre-date the Norman invasion and most have names derived from the Irish language...
of Maze, about nine miles (14 km) southwest of Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
. The prison and its inmates played a prominent role in recent Irish history
History of Ireland
The first known settlement in Ireland began 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 Iberian Peninsula, were...
, notably in the 1981 hunger strike
1981 Irish hunger strike
The 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 demolition began on 30 October 2006, but (as of 2010) has been halted.
Background
Internment
Internment 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." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
in 1971 "Operation Demetrius
Operation Demetrius
Operation 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 Constabulary
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
(RUC) and British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
with raids for 452 suspects on 9 August 1971. The RUC and army arrested 342 Catholics, but key Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within 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 paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
connections. Those behind Operation Demetrius were accused of bungling, by arresting many of the wrong people and using out of date information. Later, some loyalists
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
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 (95%) of whom were Catholic and 107 (5%) Protestants.
Initially the internees were housed, with different paramilitary groups separated from each other, in Nissen hut
Nissen hut
A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure made from a half-cylindrical skin of corrugated steel, a variant of which was used extensively during World War II.-Description:...
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
Political prisoner
According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....
s rather than common criminals. In July 1972 William Whitelaw
William Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw
William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw, KT, CH, MC, PC, DL , often known as Willie Whitelaw, was a British Conservative Party politician who served in a wide number of Cabinet positions, most notably as Home Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister.-Early life:Whitelaw was born in Nairn, in...
introduced Special Category Status
Special Category Status
In July 1972, William Whitelaw, the British government's Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, granted Special Category Status to all prisoners convicted of Troubles-related offences...
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.
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 Ireland
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, informally the Northern Ireland Secretary, is the principal secretary of state in the government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State is a Minister of the Crown who is accountable to the Parliament of...
, 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. Brendan Hughes
Brendan Hughes
Brendan Hughes , also known as "The Dark", was an Irish republican and former Officer Commanding of the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army...
, 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 scheduled 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 Nugent
Kieran "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, and not political prisoners, wear uniforms. Not allowed their own clothes, they wrapped themselves in bedsheets. Prisoners participating in the protest were "on the blanket
Blanket protest
The 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 protest
Dirty protest
The 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 Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
did not respond.
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 strikeHunger strike
A 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...
.
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
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 Sands
Bobby Sands
Robert Gerard "Bobby" Sands was an Irish volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and member of the United Kingdom Parliament who died on hunger strike while imprisoned in HM Prison Maze....
, the Officer Commanding
Officer Commanding
The Officer Commanding is the commander of a sub-unit or minor unit , principally used in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. In other countries, the term Commanding Officer is applied to commanders of minor as well as major units.Normally an Officer Commanding is a company, squadron or battery...
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 Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
. Another nine hunger strikers (members of both the IRA and the INLA
Irish National Liberation Army
The 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 socialist 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 40 ft (12.2 m) underground tunnel was found. The tunnel led from H-Block 7 and was 80 ft (24.4 m) short of the perimeter wall.
In December 1997, IRA prisoner Liam Averill escaped from the prison dressed as a woman during a Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
party for prisoners' children. 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.
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 ForceLoyalist Volunteer Force
The Loyalist Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed by Billy Wright in 1996 when he and the Portadown unit of the Ulster Volunteer Force's Mid-Ulster Brigade was stood down by the UVF leadership. He had been the commander of the Mid-Ulster Brigade. The...
(LVF) leader Billy Wright was shot dead in December 1997 by two Irish National Liberation Army
Irish National Liberation Army
The 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 socialist united Ireland....
(INLA) prisoners.
Peace process
The prisoners also played a significant role in the Northern Ireland peace processNorthern Ireland peace process
The 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 Mowlam
Mo Mowlam
Marjorie "Mo" Mowlam was a British Labour Party politician. She was the Member of Parliament for Redcar from 1987 to 2001 and served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.Mowlam's time as Northern...
, paid a surprise visit to the prison to talk to members of the Ulster Defence Association
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association is the largest although not the deadliest loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during "The Troubles"...
/Ulster Freedom Fighters (UDA/UFF) including Johnny Adair
Johnny Adair
Jonathan Adair, better known as Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair is the former leader of the "C Company", 2nd Battalion Shankill Road, West Belfast Brigade of the "Ulster Freedom Fighters" . This was a cover name used by the Ulster Defence Association , an Ulster loyalist paramilitary organisation...
, Sam McCrory and Michael Stone
Michael Stone (loyalist paramilitary)
Michael Stone is a Northern Irish loyalist who was a volunteer in the Ulster Defence Association . Stone was born in England but raised in the Braniel estate in East Belfast, Northern Ireland. Convicted of killing three people and injuring more than sixty in an attack on mourners at Milltown...
. 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 Agreement
Belfast Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement or Belfast Agreement , sometimes called the Stormont Agreement, was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process...
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 360 acres (1.5 km²) 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. 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 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.
Recently, January 2009 plans to build the new £300 million multi-purpose stadium
Multi-purpose stadium
Multi-purpose stadiums are a type of stadium designed in such a way as to be easily used by multiple sports. While any stadium could potentially host more than one sport, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy that stresses multi-functionality over specificity...
on the site of The Maze were cancelled, with politicians saying plans to start the construction of the stadium would not be reconsidered until at least 2012.
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
Martin McGuinness
James Martin Pacelli McGuinness is an Irish Sinn Féin politician and the current deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. McGuinness was also the Sinn Féin candidate for the Irish presidential election, 2011. He was born in Derry, Northern Ireland....
and opposition from unionists who consider that this risks creating "a shrine to the IRA".
External links
- Maze Prison - MazePrison.Com History Behind The Wire
- BBC: Inside the Maze, a history
- Jonathan Glancey, New StatesmanNew StatesmanNew Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural 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 GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
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)