Mr. Win. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many letters he has received in the last three months requesting increased representation in Parliament for Northern Ireland;
(2) further to his Written Answer No. 85 of Friday 21st May 1976 to the hon. Member for Londonderry, how many letters he has received recently on constitutional matters; and what percentage of them favoured direct rule.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesPrecise figures are not available, for the reasons I explained in my reply to the hon. Member on 21st May.—[Vol. 911, c.744–5].
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976* Machine guns … 11 28 53 49 54 43 8 Rifles … 104 279 533 577 465 226 111 Shotguns … 47 136 151 167 129 135 27 Pistols/revolvers … 162 273 522 520 588 416 100 Rocket launchers … — 1 3 7 4 — 1 Mortars … — — 2 275 20 5 52 Total … 324 717 1,264 1,595 1,260 825 299 * January to April inclusive. It would require disproportionate effort to break these figures down by make and calibre, and to identify weapons used in acts of terrorism or against the security forces. Figures are not available for recoveries before 1970.
§ Mr. Bradfordasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many explosions occurred in Northern Ireland during the seven years from 1969 to 1975 caused by terrorists operating from the Republic of Ireland and detonating these explosions from that country, listing each year separately.
§ Mr. Merlyn Rees, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 17th May 1976; Vol. 911, c. 377–8], gave the following information:
It is not possible to determine with accuracy the number of explosions in Northern Ireland detonated from the Irish Republic. Some are known to have been detonated by transmitters and command wires can be removed.