Belfast prison to open for visits

The public are to get a glimpse of life at Her Majesty's Pleasure in one of Northern Ireland's most famous prisons.

Crumlin Road Prison, which is undergoing a £1m facelift, once held some of Northern Ireland's most notorious inmates.

Now, as work progresses to restore the listed building, it is opening for guided tours two days a week until December.

The prison is undergoing major renovations

The announcement was made by Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie who said it would give people a "real sense of both its history and its future potential".

Improvements at the "Crum", as it is referred to by former inmates, include restoring the jail's facade to its original 1845 appearance.

Security walls and fencing, which obscured the front of the building throughout the Troubles, have been removed and the railings and main gates repaired and restored.

Ms Ritchie said: "The completion of this work represents a key milestone in the redevelopment of Crumlin Road jail.

"For the first time in a generation the frontage of the jail has been opened up, making a very positive contribution to improving the appearance of the Crumlin Road.

"The old blast walls, razor wire and bullet-proof glass have all been dismantled. Their demise represents a tangible expression of the sort of positive change that Belfast has been enjoying now for a number of years".

Gerry Kelly inside one of the cells at the jail

Sinn Fein assembly member Gerry Kelly, a junior minister in the executive, welcomed the progress to date.

Mr Kelly, who served two years in the prison as an IRA inmate, added: "The pilot access scheme will see the opening of the former jail to visitors who have an interest in its history and its future."

During its history, 17 prisoners were executed at the jail, including IRA man Tom Williams, who was hanged in 1942.

IRA men and loyalists including Lenny Murphy, who was leader of the Shankill Butchers, were all kept in the Crumlin Road cells.

Former inmate Danny Morrison believes the prison could become the perfect movie set.

Mr Morrison, a former Sinn Fein publicity director, was twice held at the north Belfast jail which closed in 1996.

Margaret Ritchie revealed plans for guided tours

"It's very important to the history of this city, and how people were treated in the wider spectrum of poverty," he said.

"People caught stealing bread would have been put in jail there in the 19th century.

"Just because this is quite a political society we assume everyone knows what the inside of a jail looks like. But people would be surprised to see how small cells are; they become fairly claustrophobic."

The jail has opened occasionally to the public in the past, for special cinema screenings and other cultural events and it was open during European Heritage Open Days recently.

A forthcoming production of Macbeth is being staged there as part of the Belfast Festival at Queen's.

Guided tours will be available on Thursdays and Saturdays from 20 September to 15 December.

The jail will then close again after Christmas for essential repairs and restoration.