Stormont Sports Minister fights against international football outside Northern Ireland

Edwin Poots appeared before a special meeting of his Assembly scrutiny committee to discuss controversial plans for a new 35,000-seater sports stadium on the site of the former Maze Prison.

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He told MLAs the Irish Football Association's chief executive, Howard Wells, had warned him there was a real possibility the team could have to play at least two friendly matches outside the province because of concerns about the suitability of Windsor Park in Belfast.

The Democratic Unionist minister also moved to reassure colleagues on the Stormont Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee that he would not seek Assembly approval for a stadium on the Maze site if it was linked to any conflict transformation centre project which could be turned into a shrine to terrorism.

"In terms of international football in Northern Ireland, as Sports Minister I would be horrified if we had to play international matches outside of Northern Ireland," the Lagan Valley MLA said.

"As the minister in charge of sport I will do utmost to ensure matches are not played outside of Northern Ireland.

"However I cannot give you a guarantee that will not happen."

The minister said, however, that he would be willing to go to Cabinet colleagues to see what they could do to keep international football matches at Windsor Park.

Mr Poots' officials, along with the governing bodies of soccer, Gaelic games and rugby in Northern Ireland, are developing a business plan for a £55million stadium on the site of the former jail which housed some of the province's most notorious republican and loyalist paramilitaries.

If international matches are to be played there, it will mean the Irish Football Association finding a way of ending a long-term contract with Linfield football club to play games at Windsor Park.

Northern Ireland football supporters are also highly sceptical about locating a new stadium at the Maze, arguing that it would be much better to build a new arena in Belfast or revamp Windsor Park.

Some unionists have been unnerved by plans for a conflict transformation centre on the 365-acre site, retaining one of the infamous H-Blocks which housed loyalist and republican prisoners and the prison hospital where 10 IRA and INLA hunger strikers died in 1981.

The DUP minister has been warned by Cabinet and party colleague, Enterprise Minister Nigel Dodds, that unionists will not stomach any stadium project linked to anything which glorifies terrorism.

East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson and fellow DUP Assembly members Nelson McCausland and Jim Shannon have also been critical of the project, siding with Northern Ireland football supporters who claim it would make more sense to locate a new soccer stadium in the heart of Belfast rather than on a 365-acre site outside the city.

Sinn Fein, however, has insisted that the conflict transformation centre will not be a terrorism shrine.

The Maze project also envisages an agricultural showground, an indoor arena, houses and cafes on the site.

The Ulster Unionist vice chair of the Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee, David McNarry, asked the minister what impact unionist indignation over the prospect of a potential shrine to terrorism would have on his decision on whether to take forward the Maze stadium plan.

Mr Poots said that while the issue of the conflict transformation centre was a matter for another department, he was not going to fudge the question.

"Ultimately no unionist will accept any proposal which will be a glorification of terrorism," he said.

"There will have to be cross-community consensus. However, unionists will not support anything that says terrorism was right, that the killing of innocent individuals was right.

"That is the bottom line.

"That has to be taken into consideration."

The minister added that there would be no point in taking forward any proposal which could not command cross-community support.