Trevor Lunn MLA said: “This delay is simply unacceptable. The confusion over the Maze site is damaging for the Lisburn area. It also casts a large shadow over the future of sport in Northern Ireland.
“As we move towards a final decision on the viability of the Maze, and as I watch the DUP squirming as their Belfast brigade tries to stop it, I wonder how did we ever get to this position? How can it be that the DUP say that other political parties, the sporting bodies, the business case, the British and Irish Governments, the majority of the population, and business experts are all wrong? Why do a small cabal of diehard unionists believe that the world ends at Finaghy?
“On 5 August, Gregory Campbell said he would make his decision ‘within weeks’. Within how many weeks, fifty-two? Get on with it Gregory.
“If the Maze site is not used to accommodate a multi-sports stadium then the opportunity of a lifetime will have been squandered by the Stormont Executive. We need to show the world that Northern Ireland can oversee an ambition project like the Maze plan if we are to attract the foreign investment we need to grow our economy.
“If the Minister does not act quickly, Northern Ireland will be playing home international football matches in Cardiff or Liverpool.
“The DUP must get over their ill-founded insecurity about the conflict transformation centre aspect of the project. What is keeping Gregory Campbell from making a decision? This indecision is long beyond a joke, and could damage local sport and the economy.”
ENDS