Where is maze prison

It was where Bobby Sands spent his final days. Some people crossed the threshold and took a moment; others didn't feel comfortable going inside. One woman told me she felt it was "too personal and too private". As the guide took us further along the block we saw the cell where Patsy O'Hara had died. At the heart of the tour was a sense of just how depressing it must have been for anyone involved.

Whether it be the prisoners, their families or the prison officers. It was a dangerous and frightening place with heightened tensions that threatened to spill over at any point. In a prison meal lorry was hijacked and 38 republican prisoners escaped.

It was the largest breakout from a British prison. During the breakout four prison officers were stabbed, including James Ferris, who died of a heart attack, six others suffered gun shot wounds or stabbings. Within days, 19 prisoners were recaptured. As we continued the tour we were led through the more recent history of the site.

As politically stability and ceasefires increased, the demise of HM Prison Maze was written into the heart of the Good Friday Agreement. By all prisoners had left, but what happened to the site has become a contentious issue.

For years unionists and nationalists have disagreed over what should become of the controversial complex. In it was announced that the site would be redeveloped into a multi-purpose sports stadia but these plans were shelved. Today the man in charge of the site, Kyle Alexander, said the focus is on conflict resolution. Michael Wiscombe, a student finishing his masters degree on the prison was one of those taking the tour. And they showed Mr. Barry O'Brien the London Correspondent of the Daily Telegraph during his exclusive visit to the Maze, terrorist training equipment made by IRA prisoners here before they lost the special category status they are seeking to regain.

A prison warden observes a member of the press re-enacting the departure from inside the H Block 5 of the Maze Prison, county Antrim, which is now empty of its Republican inmates. The prison housed paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles that blighted Great Britain and Ireland until the Good Friday Agreement in and is perhaps most well-known as the place where ten Irish Republican prisoners starved themselves t Medical examination room.

The Maze was once the main prison in Northern Ireland for sentenced republican and loyalist paramilitaries. The British government's proposals for the acre site near Lisburn, Co Antrim, are to include a 42, seat multi-sports arena and 'centre for conflict transformation'. Fifteen members of the staff of the prison, formerly Long Kesh internment camp, were injured in hand-to-hand fighting with prisoners. Great for business concepts or motivational applications.

The prison housed paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles that blighted Great Britain and Ireland until the Good Friday Agreement in and is perhaps most well-known as the place where ten Irish Republican prisoners starved themselves to A crumbling guard tower. Town or castle maze with walls and gates.

Vector illustration for puzzle or escape game level design asset. Prisoners families being collected to visit the Maze Prison, a prison that was for paramilitaries prisoners during The Troubles, Northern Ireland Conflict, Belfast , Northern Ireland. Game level design for puzzle or dungeon escape game. Grey stone texture. Vector illustration 3D maze, isometric labyrinth with stone walls. Receive today's headlines directly to your inbox every morning and evening, with our free daily newsletter.

Enter email address This field is required Sign Up. Each was serving a long sentence for serious terrorist offences. McFarlane, Mead and McAllister were serving life sentences for murder. Kelly was serving two life sentences for causing explosions in London, resulting in serious injury to approximately innocent people.

Storey was serving 18 years for possessing firearms and ammunition. Shortly after their arrival in The Circle, McFarlane was allowed out through the main entrance into the front yard of the block, where the waste bins were located. To regular block staff, this was normal practice for him, as the orderly.

The others placed themselves within line of sight of each other and in positions that enabled them to shadow each member of staff on duty in The Circle. Within a minute or so, McFarlane returned into the secure entrance lobby of the block. When they were all in position, Mead approached senior prison officer SPO Smiley second-in-charge , who was standing on The Circle, and asked if he could discuss a personal problem with him in private.

When they entered the office, Mead closed the door. At this stage, Kelly was standing close to the entrance to the block communication room. This was intended to be a secure, isolated unit, housing direct-line communications with the emergency control room ECR through its secure radio network, direct telephone line and 'panic alarm' system.

It was also the depository for all security keys in the block. Access to this room was from The Circle. A solid door, fitted with a high-security lock, secured the room, which was further protected by a metal grill gate immediately outside the door. But, because of a defect in the design of the H-Blocks, there was no effective ventilation in these communication rooms and it was not uncommon for the officers working in them to open the solid door and rely on the grill gate to secure the room.

This design fault was identified to the appropriate headquarters department shortly after the blocks were opened in the mids, but nothing was done to correct the problem. Shortly after entering the PPO's office, Mead drew a firearm, threatening both officers and holding them at bay. Simultaneously, McFarlane drew a firearm and subdued the officer manning the lobby gate and took his keys. The solid door to the communications room was already opened and Kelly pointed a gun through the metal grill gate at the officer on duty, John 'Grizzly' Adams, ordering him to open the gate and lie down on the ground.

At the same time, Storey and McAllister entered the staff 'tea room', waving a firearm and shouting: "Hit the deck. Hit the deck. If anyone moves, they are dead.

The officers at the lobby gate and on The Circle, together with two officers who, unknown to the prisoners, were in the toilets, were herded into the tea room and ordered to lie on the floor with the others. Initially, the prisoners were not aware of the presence of a hospital officer in the medical room and, when he was discovered, Storey threatened to shoot him, then made him crawl on his stomach across The Circle to the tea room.

As prisoners were now permitted inter-wing movement, it was possible for individual prisoners to position themselves in the area between wings on each side of the block, giving them line of sight to The Circle. This became crucial to the prisoners' escape plan and lookouts were in these positions. When the takeover of The Circle was complete, the prisoners who had been acting as lookouts returned to their respective wings.

As soon as they entered them, they immediately attacked and overcame the officer who admitted them. In A and B wings, one of the returning lookouts produced a gun and the other produced a screwdriver to threaten and subdue the officers. On C wing, an officer was clubbed down with a hammer blow to the back of the head and in D wing, an officer was stabbed with a knife permitted for handicraft work. This signalled an attack on the remaining wing staff, who were outnumbered by at least 25 to four and were overcome within minutes.

In the communication room, Officer Adams was still lying face down on the floor with Kelly standing close by in the doorway. He noticed that Kelly had been distracted and made a brief effort to raise the alarm. The Hennessy Report describes what is alleged to have happened in particular at Chapter 2. Lying on the floor of the communications room, he surreptitiously raised himself up in an attempt to reach his stave when he thought Gerry Kelly's attention had been diverted.

Before he could do so, Kelly fired two shots at him: he collapsed on the floor with a bullet through the head. Some of the officers held captive in The Circle area allege that, by this stage, Storey seemed completely out-of-control and, from what they could overhear, McFarlane seemed to be restraining either him, or Kelly, from killing unarmed officers.