(Friday, August 18) McCartney shares vision for Long Kesh
A former Derry hunger striker has said that the redevelopment of Long Kesh offers a "huge opportunity" to create a physical expression of the change from conflict to peace.
Foyle Sinn Fein MLA Raymond McCartney, a former H Block prisoner, said that an opportunity now existed to open a "new chapter" on the controversial site.
"Long Kesh is a unique example of international prison history. It was both an icon and a microcosm of the conflict. It is a contested space; it has contested histories and contested policies.
"The opportunity now exists to open a new chapter on this site. That chapter will hopefully be an entirely different one to that which has gone before. For our part, Sinn F in wants to see and help bring about a new beginning to this site whereby all of the community can reap the benefit," he said.
The Foyle MLA also said that the history of the prison belongs to the entire community. "The history of this site has many sides and is populated by republicans, loyalists, prison wardens, British soldiers and politicians, Prime Ministers and Taiosigh. It has a place associated with the conflict here over the last 30 years and it mirrored and informed the development of the conflict outside its walls.
"It housed perhaps 25,000 republican and loyalist prisoners. 15,000 prison staff worked there. The families of all these 40,000 people were intimately bound up with the place. 200,000, or one in eight of the population of the Six Counties, would have a strong connection with the site.
"The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has visited prisons across the globe, said that Long Kesh prison had the strongest community links of any prison in the world," Mr. McCartney said.
It is believed that around 1,500 people from Derry were incarcerated in the prison, both as internees and as sentenced prisoners, during the course of the conflict.
Sinn Fein this week unveiled its strategy for the future use of the former prison site which will cost an estimated 10 million.
The party, which wants an 'international centre for conflict transformation' held a meeting with British Government Minister David Hanson as part of the Maze/Long Kesh monitoring Group.
The Sinn F in delegation, which included Mr. McCartney, stressed that a museum must be included in the redevelopment of the County Antrim site. Sinn F in are demanding that the regeneration of the former prison, which closed in 2000, should provide facilities for anyone wishing to study the conflict and how to resolve other conflicts.
The Sinn F in strategy also proposes that that prison, including the infamous H Blocks, should be opened up to the public for guided tours and that the tour guides should be made up of former prisoners, both republican and loyalist, former prison warders and former British soldiers. According to Sinn F in, around 20 people would be employed in the International Centre for Conflict Transformation.
David Hanson, the British minister with responsibility for the regeneration of the former prison, also announced that a business plan would now be drawn up for the development of the site.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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