A number of unionist members of the Assembly's sports committee boycotted London architects who arrived at Stormont yesterday to unveil plans for the proposed 38,500-seater stadium at the Maze near Lisburn, Co Antrim.
Some DUP and Ulster Unionist Assembly members snubbed the architects, claiming they first should have been presented with business and feasibility reports for the controversial proposal which is estimated to cost in the region of £80 million.
DUP Minister for Sport and Leisure Edwin Poots was due to publicly meet the committee to discuss proposals for the stadium, which is to be used for soccer, GAA and rugby, as well as for other events including major concerts.
But this plan had to be abandoned when the DUP and UUP MLAs refused to hear reports about the design from two senior executives from London architects, HOK Sport, who were responsible for the Wembley design and Arsenal's Emirates stadium.
They had flown from Britain especially for the briefing.
While Mr Poots, in whose Lagan Valley constituency the Maze is located, favours the site, a number of his DUP colleagues and also UUP MLAs oppose the location for a variety of reasons. One of the primary arguments against the Maze is that it would incorporate what unionists call a "shrine to terrorism" ie a conflict transformation centre, which would refer to the 1981 H-blocks hungers strikes at the Maze.
Other reasons for opposition include a preference by Belfast unionist MLAs for the stadium to be built in the city. Some SDLP Belfast councillors also favour Belfast.
The issue degenerated into farce yesterday when the architects, Mike Trice and Janine Graham, were left wandering the corridors of Parliament Buildings when the MLAs would not meet them.
They expressed their disappointment they were prohibited from presenting their designs to the politicians.
Instead, they showed them to the press gathered at Stormont for what was billed as a major event - although it did not involve an actual decision on where the stadium would be located.
Sinn Féin MLA for Lisburn Paul Butler accused the unionists of "grandstanding". He added: "There is no threat of a shrine."
