§ Lord Bethellasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many people were killed, in each of the years 1980 to 1988, in activities relating to Northern Ireland terrorisim, including those killed in Britain, specifying in each instance whether those who carried out the killings are believed to be Irish Republican terrorists, Loyalist terrorists, the Army, the RUC, the UDR or any other armed group; and whether they will provide any other figures which they consider relevant.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Northern Ireland Office (Lord Lyell)It is not possible to state with absolute certainty, in each case, which paramilitary grouping was responsible for terrorist murders in Northern Ireland; however, information on the number of deaths for which it is considered likely that paramilitary groups were responsible is given each year in the annual report of the Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary. A summary of this information is given in the table below:
Persons believed killed by Paramilitary Organisations in Northen Ireland 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 Republican Groups 53 69 71 54 40 42 41 69 62 Loyalist Groups 13 12 13 7 7 5 14 11 22 TOTAL 66 81 84 61 47 47 55 80 84 The following table details the number of persons killed as a result of the action of security forces in Northern Ireland during the period 1980–1988:
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 Regular Army 4 11 4 4 8 3 4 9 5 RUC (incl RUCR) 2 5 7 6 3 1 2 — 1 UDR — 1 1 1 — 1 — — — TOTAL 6 17 12 11 11 5 6 9 6 Statistics on the number of deaths in Great Britain as a result of activities relating to Northern Irish terrorism is the responsibility of the Secretary of State for the Home Department. However, the number of people killed in Great Britain in each of the years 1980 to 1988 in these circumstances is set out in the table below. It is believed that all deaths were caused by Irish Republican groups.
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 Irish Republican Groups — 3 11 6 5 — — — 1