§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many(a) foot and (b) mobile patrols were carried out in support of the RUC, broken down by approximate district council constituency between (a) 11 May and 8 June 1998 and (b) 9 November and 7 December 1998; [69884]
(2) how many patrols were carried out by each battalion stationed in Northern Ireland broken down by police division and approximate district council constituencies between (a) 11 May and 8 June 1998 and (b) 9November and 7 December 1998. [69883]
§ Mr. Doug HendersonIt is not possible to differentiate between foot and mobile patrols as many patrols are a combination of both. The information requested about patrols in general is set out in the table.
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Battalion Police division Approximate district council boundaries Number of patrols 11 May-8 June 1998 Number of patrols 9 November-7 December 1998 39 Inf Bde Belfast Roulement Battalion B Belfast 324 0 Holywood Battalion D North Down, Carrickfergus, Newtownabbey 211 0 7 R Irish A and E Belfast, North Down, Castlereagh 12 0 9 R Irish D and B Lisburn, Antrim 81 0 1 Included the Drumadd Roulement Battalion whose Squadrons supported other battalions in 3 Infantry Brigade's are until 16–17 November 1998 when it was re-located to the mainland. 2 Includes one company of the Province Reserve Battalion. 3 Includes one company of the Rural Reinforcement Battalion for the period 11 May-8 June only. It was re-located to the mainland on 23 September 1998. A patrol is defined as any foot or mobile patrol in support of the RUC regardless of size or duration. Patrols conducted by the Army for local security around bases are not included.
Some battalions operate in more than one Police Division.
Police Divisions are not co-terminous with District Council boundaries. These delineations are therefore only approximate and in some cases a Council area may be covered by more than one Battalion, e.g Lisburn.