The Maze jail site has been identified as the only suitable location for Northern Ireland's new national sports stadium, it was revealed tonight.
Consultants assessing land where the notorious prison once stood declared the grounds had scored better than two shortlisted Belfast areas: the Titanic Quarter and North Foreshore.
Reinvestment and Reform Minister Ian Pearson, who, along with Sports Minister Angela Smith, is involved with plans for a 30,000-seater arena, said the others were considered too expensive.
"Work is continuing in relation to the stadium and its viability, particularly in relation to getting agreement on the way forward with the key sports bodies in the coming months," he said. "I can confirm that we are now moving forward with this business planning work on the basis that, as far as sites are concerned, we are only considering the Maze/Long Kesh."
Expert teams of design, development and planning professionals have now been invited to tender for what the Government has called a regeneration framework or masterplan for the site.
The stadium is the showpiece feature of a £1 billion blueprint for transforming a grim and controversial legacy of The Troubles.
Under business and leisure plans published in February, an International Centre for Conflict Resolution would also be included on the sprawling 360-acre plot. One of the infamous H-Blocks, scene of era-defining IRA hunger strikes, would be retained as part of the report prepared by the Maze Consultation Panel.
As well as a sports zone with a stadium hosting soccer, rugby and Gaelic games, the plans contain a rural and equestrian sector including an exhibition centre and showgrounds capable of staging major concerts. This comples could create up to 1,000 jobs.
An arts centre, office blocks, hotels and leisure village have also been mapped out on the site near Lisburn, Co Antrim.
The most eye-catching feature of the scheme, involving both private and public-sector funding, is the stadium, which will cost £60 million to build.
The panel, however, has already studied how American sports franchises and top football clubs in Britain are turning to naming rights for crucial revenue. Several blue-chip firms have been approached about meeting a significant portion of arena costs.