Political agreement is needed to unlock the potential for development at the site of the former Maze prison, MLAs have been told.
It came as the DUP chairman of a Stormont committee reaffirmed that his party would “continue to block any attempt by any party to develop any form of shrine to terrorism” at the site.
Plans to develop the grounds of the former prison near Lisburn in Co Antrim, which held scores of paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles, have not progressed in several years.
The former Maze prison only makes up a part of the large site near Lisburn (Niall Carson/PA)
While some of the site has been utilised for Balmoral Park for the annual agriculture show and by the Ulster Aviation Society, a large part of the grounds, including where the former prison buildings stand, remains derelict.
The DUP blocked plans to build a peace centre at the Maze in 2013 over claims it would become a “shrine to terrorism”.
The former prison only comprises part of the 347-acre site that falls under the remit of the Maze Long Kesh Development Corporation, established in 2011.
MLAs on the Economy Committee visited the location on Wednesday where they were given a briefing by members of the corporation.
Interim chief executive Bryan Gregory told the committee that the corporation maintained a “determined optimism” over the future of the site.
He said: “I think it is quite clear from statements made in the Assembly that all parties recognise the very significant potential of this site.”
Mr Gregory said the success of the Balmoral Show, as well as the work of the Air Ambulance charity and the Ulster Aviation Society on the site, were an example of its potential.
However, he said a “essential” priority for development needed to be improving connectivity. He said it would take up to eight years to develop a link road to the M1 motorway.
He added: “Any future development will be dependent on being able to accommodate the additional traffic generated as a result of that.
“That is why our focus is very much on the delivery of a motorway link road.”
Alliance MLA David Honeyford said the potential of the site was “phenomenal” and added it was for the Executive Office to push the project forward.
He said the “elephant in the room” was how to manage what remained of the former prison buildings.
He added: “We go around the world and ask people to invest in Northern Ireland, yet we are not prepared to do it ourselves, that is the frustration.
“We have the potential sitting here but we can’t realise it.”
Mr Gregory told the committee: “We do believe that there is a means, certainly the tools are in place, to deliver the regeneration of this site.
“It is not a technical solution, we can’t walk away and do some analysis and say ‘hey presto, this is the answer to it’.
“This requires a political solution to enable the main barrier that has been in place since 2013, to resolve that.”
Committee chairman and DUP MLA Phillip Brett said: “For the record, this party will continue to block any attempt by any party to develop any form of shrine to terrorism at this site.
“That is not something I believe that the corporation board are trying to do but it is simply for the record.”