Ulster Unionist Leader Mike Nesbitt has responded to the announcement by the First and deputy First Minister of the Maze/Long Kesh Development Corporation Chair and Board Members.

The Strangford MLA commented:

‘Firstly, these appointments are long overdue as they should have been finalised last year and in that respect it is welcome to see an outcome to an issue which has being allowed to run on for too long. Indeed I have a written answer from the First and deputy First Ministerto a question from my colleague Tom Elliott in early 2011 which states that the Corporation Board was intended to have been in place later that year. This is indicative of the slow pace of the current administration headed up by the DUPand Sinn Fein which the public should not have to become accustomed to.’

‘I am however concerned that this was an announcement which could and should have been made in the Assembly and therefore subject to the appropriate scrutiny and accountability from MLAs. Only yesterday I released a statement which highlighted the absence of the First and deputy First Minister from this week’s Assembly business and calling for a series of Ministerial statements to be made on the work which is being taken forward. The way in which the Maze Corporation appointments have been announced reinforces the need for our approach.’

‘My Party outlined our concerns about the Conflict Resolution Centre for the Maze site during a debate in the Assembly on25 October 2011. It is however important that the economic potential of the site is maximised through initiatives such as the move by the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society, and the Chair and Board have an important role to play in that.’

ENDS

Ulster Unionist Party motion on 25th October 2011 – ‘Thatthis Assembly recognises the potential social and economic benefits which the utilisation of former security sites, such as the site of the Maze prison, can bring to Northern Ireland; notes with concern the proposals to build a “peace-building and conflict resolution centre” at the site; and calls on the First Minister and deputy First Minister to develop this site in a way which is practical and inoffensive to victims.’