§ Mr. Nicholsonasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will call for a report from the Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary as to the cost of policing the Loyalist parades on 12 and 13 July in Portadown in each of the last five years including 1985; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ScottThe Chief Constable regularly informs my right hon. Friend and me of law enforcement issues, including the conduct of parades and particular events and the police resources involved. So far as the policing of the Portadown parades is concerned, the estimated cost for 12 and 13 July 1984 was £34,150, and for 1985 it was £341,000. Similar information is not available for 1981–83.
§ Mr. Nicholsonasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Royal Ulster Constabulary, Army and Ulster Defence Regiment personnel, respectively, were deployed in Portadown in connection with Loyalist parades on 12 and 13 July in each of the last five years including 1985; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ScottIt would not be appropriate for me to give details of the deployment of members of the security forces at particular locations; these are operational matters decided by Royal Ulster Constabulary and Army commanders.
930W
Statistics on Security—Part 1 (Yearly figures) 1971–1978 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 Shooting incidents 1,756 10,628 5,018 3,206 1,803 1,908 1,081 755 Explosions 1,022 1,382 978 685 399 766 366 455 Bombs neutralised 493 471 542 428 236 426 169 178 Weight of explosives in lbs* 10,972 47,462 47,472 46,435 13,753 17,596 2,839 5,343 Explosions neutralised 3,001 19,978 32,450 27,094 11,159 16,252 2,188 5,860.5 Armed robberies 437 1,931 1,215 1,231 1,201 813 591 442 Amount stolen £303,787 £790,687 £612,015 £572,951 £572,105 £545,497 £446,988 £232,650 Malicious fires† — — 587 636 248 453 432 269 Deaths Civilian 115 322 171 166 216 245 69 50
§ Mr. Beggsasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) if he will list the total number of individual and group representations he received objecting to the route along Obins street, Portadown, being traversed during annual Loyalist parades in the current year;
(2) what representations concerning the routeing of annual Loyalist parades along Obins street, Portadowr. in July he received from (a) the Government of the Irish Republic, (b) the Social Democratic and Labour party, (c) Sinn Fein and (d) the Workers' party of Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ScottSince the routeing of marches and parades is a matter for the Chief Constable's operational judgment, the Northern Ireland Office does not keep a comprehensive record of all those who have expressed views to me or my colleagues on these matters. Representatives of the Social Democratic and Labour party gave my right hon. Friend and me their views on the Portadown marches which were to take place on 7, 12 and 13 July, but there were no representations during this period from the Irish Government, the Workers party or from Sinn Fein.
§ Mr. Michael McNair-Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many marches in the Province have been re-routed annually during the past 5 years.
§ Mr. ScottThe routes of a large number of processions are altered each year after consultations between the organisers and the police. Only a very small proportion give rise to any difficulty or public disorder. Police records are not maintained in a way which would allow the detailed information requested to be obtained at other than disproportionate cost.