A major public consultation gets under way today to decide what to do with the site of the former top security Maze Prison in the North.
The 360-acre Co Antrim site of the former prison is where ten Irish republican prisoners, including Bobby Sands, died on hunger strike in 1981 and where notorious loyalist leader Billy Wright was murdered by the INLA in 1997.
In September 1983, 38 IRA men shot their way out of the top security jail; some were swiftly recaptured, while 19 got away.
The prison and its adjoining British army base are among several sites that the British government has agreed to transfer to the ownership of the Northern Ireland Executive, without charge, under the Chancellor's Reinvestment and Reform Initiative.
The idea is that sites which symbolised the conflict can help underpin the peace process by becoming engines for economic and social regeneration.
The consultation process is being run by the Maze Consultation Panel, which has among its members appointees of the four main political parties in the province, representatives of government departments and Lisburn City Council in whose area the Maze is situated.
Panel chairman David Campbell appealed to everyone to play their part and for property developers, in particular, to "embrace the opportunities that this highly significant and valuable regional development site presents".
"All ideas are welcome. The panel's policy is to rule nothing out and rule nothing in at this stage," he said.
However proposals must meet one or more of the government's objectives for future use in terms of bringing economic, social and community benefits.
Additional reporting PA