D. Morley Camp O/C 4th Batt. [14] At 4:05 pm the officers began to resist, and an officer pressed an alarm button. Opened in 1989, it was never used for regular services as it was deemed a security risk. None of the testifying prison officials knew whether any of the prison officers who participated in the abuse of the returned escapees or who perjured themselves are still employed at the Maze prison. [23] Gerard McDonnell was captured in Glasgow in June 1985 along with four other IRA members, including Brighton bomber Patrick Magee, and convicted of conspiring to cause sixteen explosions across England. After spending several years in prison, he became a Protestant fundamentalist preacher. Download Image. The guides include audio descriptions of the Hospital, the H-Blocks and the Compounds, accompanied by excerpts from participants. Discover (and save!) Our republican guide exchanged pleasantries with our new guide and I managed to . Sean Mackin was arrested and charged with the attempted murder of a prison officer's daughter. Long Kesh was also used for sentenced republican and loyalist prisoners from 1972. These cookies do not store any personal information. [14] Officers arriving for work were entering the gatehouse from outside the prison, and each was ordered at gunpoint to join the other hostages. 120.00 Controversy about the site's future makes it clear that the redevelopment of contested heritage cannot be divorced from the policy process of a negotiated settlement between opposed communities and . Archive of Steve Jensen Design www.stevejensen.design, This is a part of the Maze that will be in my very bones til the day that I die Prison Officer. There are now plans to turn the abandoned site into a national football stadium.". [47][48] On 7 July 1991, IRA prisoners Nessan Quinlivan and Pearse McAuley escaped from HM Prison Brixton, where they were being held on remand. [2][3] On 31 October 1973, three leading IRA members, including former Chief of Staff Seamus Twomey, escaped from Mountjoy Prison in Dublin when a hijacked helicopter landed in the exercise yard of the prison. [13] The day after the escape, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland James Prior announced an inquiry would be headed by His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons, James Hennessy. Chapel Plan. The current prison governor testified that there are no plans to discipline the prison officers involved and the "case is closed" as far as he is concerned. This was in the townland of Maze, about nine miles (14km) southwest of Belfast. 01. More than 130 prisoners were injured in the trouble - nine needed hospital treatment. [31] In March 1990 the Supreme Court of Ireland in Dublin blocked the extradition of James Pius Clarke and Dermot Finucane on the grounds they "would be probable targets for ill-treatment by prison staff" if they were returned to prison in Northern Ireland. He had served 10 years in Long Kesh Prison (also known as the Maze) for offenses relating to the struggle for Irish independence. Maze and Long Kesh. [4], However, Special Category Status was short-lived. 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, citing a lack of support and concerns for a net loss to the economy. Not allowed their own clothes, they wrapped themselves in bedsheets. In the biggest prison . It was like a, and I defy anybody else to describe it as a prisoner of war camp, you know. The former Maze Prison/Long Kesh in Lisburn, near Belfast, is one of the primary sites associated with the 'The Troubles' in Northern Ireland. It was possible to gain qualifications through the centre and obtain City and Guilds certificates. A selection of clips from the archive exploring the theme from different perspectives. The existing research on the psychological impact of the Northern Ireland conflict for the prisoners shows that 70% of the ex-prisoners say that they experience poor or very poor emotional health. We invite you to submit interesting articles, tell us [14], Finucane continued to the pedestrian gate where he stabbed the officer controlling the gate, and two officers who had just entered the prison. The central point of the H-Block, it was actually an oblong space. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for VINTAGE IRISH ULSTER LEATHER PRISON BOOK ENDS LONG KESH MAZE LOYALIST SHIPS FLAG at the best online prices at eBay! We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. Former Loyalist prisoner Ronnie-Flint-McCullough remembers meeting Billings for the first time 44 years ago in Long Kesh prison camp. The highlight of your week would be getting the call for a visit Prisoner. [L] They drove it straight into the cage? But in the early days when we were in this sort of frame of mind freedom: 74, freedom: 75 we led a fairly militarised type of existence, it was very military structures. Not only were republicans and loyalists held in separate compounds/ cages, but so were the various organisations, including the UVF, UDA, Official IRA and Provisional IRA. As Northern Ireland's Troubles intensified, its prison population increased exponentially, with as many as 15,000 loyalists incarcerated for politically motivated crimes. close. There was plenty of heartache and plenty of craic in that section of the jail Prisoner. Internment, used several times in Northern Ireland's short history, was reintroduced by its Stormont government on 9 August 1971 (McGuffin 1973). It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. Her Majesty's Prison at the Maze was opened in 1976 and the prison's H-Blocks were to become the centre of protest against the . and U.D.A. He was initially jailed for six months in 1971 but, shortly afterwards, served over another five years in the unionist paramilitary cages or compounds of Long Kesh. [6] At the end of April 1978, a fight occurred between a prisoner and a prison officer in H-Block 6. The map shows both the cages and compounds and the H-blocks, and therefore dates from some time after 1976. [40][41] Dermot McNally, who had been living in the Republic of Ireland and was tracked down in 1996,[35] and Dermot Finucane, received an amnesty in January 2002, allowing them to return to Northern Ireland if they wished to. 5th May 2014. Numerous prison officers took part in the mistreatment of the returned escapees. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. Never before told from the Loyalist perspective, Plum Smith shares his story of life within Long Kesh prison during the Troubles. The prison and its inmates were involved in such events as the 1981 hunger strike. William Stephen Wright (7 July 1960 - 27 December 1997) was a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary leader during the Troubles. June 05, 2021 11:00. This group was formed in 1974 with the goal of establishing a socialist republic in Ireland, free from British rule in the northeastern six counties. [53] On 10 December 1997 IRA prisoner Liam Averill, serving a life sentence after being convicted of the murder of two Protestants, escaped from the Maze dressed as a woman. Kane also was roughed up by the security forces within hours of being returned to Northern Ireland. One officer who attempted to prevent the escape was shot in the head by Gerry Kelly, but survived. Some prisoners changed from being Special Category Status prisoners to being common criminals. During the course of his extradition proceedings, he applied to the Minister of Justice in Ireland not to send him back because he feared being assaulted by the prison staff and members of the security forces. Ten prisoners dressed in guards' uniforms and armed with guns and chisels dismounted from the lorry and entered the gatehouse, where they took the officers hostage. The RUC and army arrested 342 Irish nationalists, 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. PRONI Ref: RUC/12/39/1, I must say it was a happy, busy place, people all seemed to be enjoying what they were doing, it wasnt like slave labour Educator. Wright resumed his UVF activities around 1986 and became commander of its Mid-Ulster Brigade . [6][7] 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". 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. Explain your answer, using the clip and your contextual knowledge. The Burning of Long Kesh Concentration Camp. Reproduced with the permission of the Deputy Keeper of the Records, the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. [19], On 25 October 1984, nineteen prisoners appeared in court on charges relating to the death of prison officer James Ferris, sixteen charged with his murder. [13][15], Outside the prison the IRA had planned a logistical support operation involving 100 armed members,[16] but due to a miscalculation of five minutes, the prisoners found no transport waiting for them and were forced to flee across fields or hijack vehicles. Tiocfaidh r l (Irish pronunciation: [tki a la]) is an Irish language sentence which translates as "our day will come". [P] Thats what happened the first riot in Long Kesh, in cage 2. 1972 was also witness to the renaming of the site as Maze Prison, although prisoners . Tue 15th+ Wed 16th Oct 1974. H-Block classroom, 1981. However, the government immediately reverted to their previous stance, in the belief that the prisoners would not start another strike. A man who planted a bomb on a bus during the Queen's visit to Ireland has gone on hunger strike in jail after clashing with the New IRA prison leadership. 15. One of the bizarre things to me always was that this rectangular space was called circle Educator. . [53] Averill mingled with a group of prisoners' families attending a Christmas party, and escaped on the coach taking the families out of the prison. However, weddings did take place here, as well as graduations for prisoners who undertook Open University degrees in the prison. You had four huts which were in they had four huts which were in one compound, you had an ablutions block and a canteen area which we converted into a five a side area. . In October 2019, the European Union withdrew 18m that had been approved to develop a peace centre, due to disagreements between Sinn Fin and the Democratic Unionist Party. PRONI ref: INF/7/A/8/16, H-Block classroom, 1981. Ulster loyalist prison art Glasgow Rangers, U.V.F., U.D.A., long Kesh, Maze. There must have been over a hundred men, all with long, dirty, greasy hair, long beards some longer than others totally unkempt. A large windowless building which contained a basketball court and weightlifting equipment. 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