Ardoyne riots cost £422,000
The cost of policing the rioting that engulfed the Ardoyne area of north Belfast last month was almost half a million pounds.
Taxpayers shelled out an estimated £422,000 for the major security operation that was mounted on three successive nights of public disorder that erupted following the annual Twelfth of July demonstrations.
Dissident republicans were blamed for stirring up trouble which saw police come under attack from petrol bombers and stone throwers.
At one point at the height of the rioting live rounds were fired at officers.
The substantial costs of policing parades is an ongoing source of frustration for chief constable Sir Hugh Orde.
The bill for all police operations linked to marches last year was £5m.
Details of the financial outlay for the Ardoyne incidents was provided to the Policing Board by the PSNI.
Board chair Barry Gilligan said valuable police resources were being tied up in parades.
“There is a substantial amount of resource used to police parades and the costs of the policing operation at Ardoyne show this,” he said.
“These are resources that could have been much better spent on community policing and dealing with local policing issues.
“It is important that communities continue to work together to reach resolution around parading issues and over the summer a lot of people have invested a lot of time in doing this. Their work is to be commended.
“However, as we witnessed at Ardoyne in July and at last week’s (Apprentice Boys) parade in Derry there are a small minority intent on causing trouble and there is no doubt that the cost of policing such disorder diverts resources away from normal policing duties.”
