Pounds 450m bill of Ulster conflict

THE Northern Ireland conflict costs the UK and the Irish Republic about pounds 450m a year in security costs and loss of tourism revenue, a study published yesterday said.

It estimates that Britain contributed an average of nearly pounds 2bn a year to the running of the Ulster economy between 1983 and 1993.

The report, released in Dublin by the economic consultants, Davy, Kelleher and McCarthy, says an end to violence would save the Republic pounds 90m a year and the UK pounds 220m in security costs alone.

It adds that terrorist activity in Northern Ireland has resulted in 35,000 shooting incidents and almost 10,000 explosions since 1969, with 3,100 dead and 34,000 injured.

The spilling over of the conflict into Britain had resulted in 82 deaths and 1,100 people injured since 1974.