§ Mr. Maginnisasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many protests have been lodged by Her Majesty's Government with the Government of the Irish Republic since 15 November 1985 concerning cross-frontier incursions by the army of the Irish Republic or the Gardai; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. StanleyI understand how easy it is for members of the security forces operating near the border to make
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Statistics on Security Part I—Statistics of Terrorist Activity Yearly Figures: 1971–1987 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 Shooting Incidents4 1,756 10,628 5,018 3,206 1,803 1,908 1,081 755 728 Explosions 1,022 1,382 978 685 399 766 366 455 422 Bombs Neutralised 493 471 542 428 236 426 169 178 142 Weight of explosives in lbs1 Explosions 10,972 47,462 47,472 46,435 13,753 17,596 2,839 5,343 11,181 Neutralised 3,001 19,978 32,450 27,094 11,159 16,252 2,188 5,860.5 4,530 mistakes and accidentally stray outside their respective jurisdictions, as has happened in the case of the security forces of both countries. Since 15 November 1985 the Government have brought to the attention of the Government of the Republic of Ireland 16 occasions in which members of the Irish security forces have allegedly crossed the border into Northern Ireland. Of these, the Irish authorities have admitted two, 13 have been denied and one is under investigation.