The cost of policing a 24/7 Ulster loyalist protest in north Belfast will exceed £21m, the region’s chief constable has said.
As the loyalist marching season reaches its climax in Northern Ireland over the next few days, the head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, George Hamilton, has also said the cost of security at the Twaddell protest camp, where the loyalist Greater Shankill area meets the republican Ardoyne district in Belfast, will continue to rise.
The body that rules on controversial loyalist marches – the Parades Commission – has banned the Orange Order and its supporters from parading past the Ardoyne district on 12 July, the most sacred day in the Ulster loyalist calendar. The area is the scene of annual clashes between loyalists, republicans and police.
Hamilton, the chief constable, said: “It is reasonable to expect the estimated total cost will be in excess of £21m. The PSNI has a responsibility to police the Parades Commission’s determinations and also ensure that the resources deployed take account of the prevailing threat at the time of the deployment.”
Talks were held recently between Ardoyne residents and loyalists that almost led to a solution to the annual standoff. The deal centred on allowing Orangemen and their followers to march back from Belfast city centre on 1 July as part of a mass demonstration to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.
However, the agreement failed following objections from one of two rival republican community groups.
The Twaddell protest camp consists of one caravan, a portable building and portable toilets. Because it is close to the Ardoyne district it has to be policed around the clock to prevent sectarian disorder. Meanwhile, nationalists and loyalists have condemned xenophobic slogans painted on wooden pallets at a bonfire in east Belfast.
“Foreigners Out” was daubed on the pallets at a bonfire which will be lit on 11 July by young east Belfast loyalists. Anti-racist and ethnic rights organisations have reported an upsurge in racist insults and threats online across Northern Ireland since the Brexit vote two weeks ago.
