By Brendan Anderson

Long Kesh, the notorious prison camp where 10 Irish Republicans died on hunger strike and hundreds of others were interned without trail, is to be transformed into a state of the art sports stadium.

A cross-party consultation panel has recommended that the 360-acre site of the former Co. Antrim jail be used to build an area for Gaelic football, soccer, rugby as well as a “national arts center and center for conflict transformation.”

One of the H-Blocks, so-called because of their shape, will be retained as a museum, as will the prison hospital where IRA and INLA hungers strikers died during the 1981 protest to achieve political status.

Long Kesh, erected on the site of a British wartime military airport, was originally built to house the hundreds of Republicans and suspected Republicans interned without trial in the early 1970s. It was later renovated and fortified to be used as a prison for sentenced Loyalists and Republicans.

Several members of the current Sinn Fein leadership were among the 38 Republican prisoners who escaped from the almost impregnable jail in 1983. Half were recaptured within hours but several, including senior negotiator Gerry Kelly and Brendan “Bik” McFarlane, remained at liberty for several years. 

If the development gets the go-ahead, the consultation panel believes it could lead to £1 in public and private investment. It is proposed that the arts and conflict transformation center would have links to Harvard and Boston Universities in the United States. The proposals also include plans for an international equestrian center and showgrounds.

Panel chairman David Campbell said, “We now have the real prospect, as the Prime Minister (Tony Blair) said on commissioning our work, of literally turning swords into ploughshares and providing a beacon of hope for Northern Ireland and beyond. We strongly recommend that the government gives a firm commitment to the early development of all of the elements of our agreed proposals through a coherent master plan.”

Sinn Fein Assembly Member Raymond McCartney, a former IRA hunger striker, welcomed the retention of one of the H-blocks and commended the advisory panel on its work.

“Sinn Fein’s primary concern has been to preserve a substantial and significant part of the Long Kesh site because of its historical importance that reflects the conflict that has bedeviled these islands for centuries. It has witnessed much grief and pain for all those who passed through it and for their families and relatives,” he said.

Long Kesh is one of three locations short-listed for the site of the stadium. The others have been the North Foreshore of Belfast Lough and the Titanic Quarter in east Belfast.