Northern Ireland's most infamous jail, the Maze, finally closed its doors today. The Prison Service said that for the first time since 1971, no inmate was behind bars in the top security jail. The last three Loyalist prisoners were transferred to Maghaberry Prison and a Republican was also transported to Magilligan jail in Derry yesterday.
The four inmates included Stephen McClean and Noel McCready who were jailed for the double murder of Protestant and Catholic friends, Philip Allen and Damien Trainor, in a bar in Poyntzpass, County Armagh, in March 1998.
Loyalist Volunteer Force inmate Alan Caufield and Lurgan Republican Martin Cordon were also transferred. The closure marked the end of the careers of 400 prison officers.
Prison Officers' Association spokesman Finlay Spratt expressed hope today that the jail would no longer be used. "It is the end of an era and I hope we never return to the same circumstances that we have had these last 30 years," he told BBC Radio Ulster.
He said: "I don't think a lot of people will be sad to see the close of the Maze. It has been a blight on our life for many years and it is good to see the end of it.
"I think it is significant. It shows how far we have come in these last two and three years. Hopefully, we are settling down to a more peaceful climate and people can get down to what we understand to be a normal life."
In the wake of the Good Friday Agreement, 430 Republican and Loyalist prisoners have been freed early from prisons in the province under an early release scheme.
The Maze saw the release of some of the province's most notorious prisoners including IRA Docklands bomber James McArdle and the Ulster Freedom Fighters' Johnny Adair. Mr Adair was re-arrested in August days after the eruption of violence on the Shankill Road between the UFF and the Ulster Volunteer Force.
The prison, which was opened in 1971, was the scene of some of the most infamous incidents of the Troubles: the 1981 hunger strike which saw ten republicans die, an escape by 38 IRA inmates in September 1983 and the gunning down by the Irish National Liberation Army in December 1997 of prominent loyalist Billy Wright. The Loyalist Volunteer Force leader's killers were transferred from the INLA wing in the Maze to Magilligan Jail earlier this week.
