Belfast jail 'could rival Alcatraz'

Crumlin Road courthouse is a listed building

Work has started to turn a disused courthouse and prison complex in Belfast into a major tourist attraction.

Heavy security fencing is being removed at Crumlin Road courthouse and jail as part of a £10m project aimed at developing a tourist attraction to rival San Francisco's notorious island prison, Alcatraz.

Property developer Barry Gilligan wants to open up the complex to the public.

His plans involve returning the listed building to its original appearance, when it opened in 1850.

The jail and courthouse are connected to one another via an underground tunnel, built to securely transfer some of Northern Ireland's most notorious prisoners across and prevent escape attempts.

Just walking through the tunnel itself is an eerie but fascinating experience Barry Gilligan Property developer Tourist trap plans for Maze prison

Mr Gilligan's plans involve staging mock trials and producing audio-visual tours of the complex, with visitors allowed to enter the hanging cell where condemned men would await their fate.

Mr Gilligan said: "I have been told there is more material in Crumlin Road courthouse and jail for a tourist attraction than Alcatraz.

"People think of it in terms of the recent conflict, but if you go back from 1970, there is another 120 years of history before that.

"Just walking through the tunnel itself is an eerie but fascinating experience."

Negotiations

A planning application has been submitted to turn part of the site into 65,000 square feet of new office space, with the rest to be allocated to what Mr Gilligan calls a "criminal justice trail".

The jail is owned by the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister in Northern Ireland's suspended executive.

Negotiations have also been held with government officials about grant aid to restore the building, and Mr Gilligan claims if the talks are successful, the project could be completed within a year.

This is not the first time that plans have been put forward to transform disused prisons in Northern Ireland into visitor attractions.

Options put forward for the now empty Maze prison in County Antrim include tourist facilities as well as a sports stadium, an agricultural centre, a private hospital or even a new village.

Notorious prisons to be turned into visitor attractions include Alcatraz in San Francisco, and South Africa's Robben Island, which housed the country's future president Nelson Mandela for 18 years.