Statement by TUV vice-chair Keith Harbinson:

“Jonathan Craig’s response to my comments on the Maze reveals how bereft of arguments his party is on this issue.

“I refute the suggestion that I or anyone else in my party has ever “grovelled” to Sinn Feiners. This is something Jonathan Craig cannot say after his party’s disgraceful rollover in the face of Republican threats to pull down the Executive if they did not get the devolution of policing and justice – something the DUP told us at various times would not happen in a political lifetime, in 6 years or in the lifetime of this Assembly.

“With regards to the specific issue of the Maze, Mr Craig cannot seek to blame Direct Rule for this. Didn’t the DUP claim that devolution would right all the wrongs of that period? Were things not supposed to be immeasurably better for Unionists?

“Secondly, I would dispute his implicit suggestion that there are not valid grounds to delist the Maze. Documentation obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by TUV leader Jim Allister revealed that on 21st January 2005 the Historic Building Council voted 5 to 1 against listing any of the buildings on the Maze site because they did “not feel that the buildings in the complex were unique nor had they any special architectural value”. At a subsequent meeting of the HBC this decision was reversed because the Chairman “suggested there was a need for members to focus on the criteria for historic interest rather than special architectural interest”.

“The Department's Listing Criteria makes it clear that a building will not have to meet all of the criteria "but a listed building will normally meet several". The buildings at the Maze patently do not qualify under "Age" or "Architectural Interest" and are said only to qualify in respect of "Historic Interest". However, the DOE’s own Listing Criteria expressly states "usually a building will meet other criteria as well as being of historic interest. Where this is not the case the historic associations must be strong."

“Of course, it is interesting to note why the listed buildings at the Maze were considered to be of historical interest.

“The consultant’s report states that H-Block 6 is of interest because it “was one of three involved in the Dirty Protest. It was also the H-Block from which 38 inmates escaped in 1983, the biggest escape in British Penal history”. The escape referred to here was, of course, the infamous breakout in which Gerry Kelly shot a prison officer in the head. The report also states that “the hospital has historical significance due to its role in the hunger strike protest where numerous prisoners died”.

“Little wonder that the original request for listing came from Sinn Fein/IRA’s Paul Butler – a man who served time in the Maze for killing an RUC officer!

“For Jonathan Craig to claim that the DUP will ensure that there is nothing at the Maze which will offend innocent victims, therefore, is totally disingenuous. The reality is that the Minister’s disgraceful decision to keep the buildings listed ensures that the site will enviably become a site of Republican pilgrimage.”