Flag Protests Cost £20m

So far £20m has been spent on policing the union flag protests across Northern Ireland.

The figure has been released by the PSNI.

Chief constable Matt Baggott said the money had been “wasted” on policing "disorder that should never have happened in the first place".

Unionists and loyalists have been protesting regularly since Belfast City Council's decision on 3 December last year to restrict the flying of the union flag at City Hall.

While many of the protests have been peaceful, some have erupted into violence, including clashes with the nationalist Short Strand area and attacks on police officers.

The protests are thought to have had a detrimental effect on Belfast businesses, particularly in the run-up to Christmas, as shoppers avoided the city centre and tourists cancelled hotel bookings.

Mr Baggott said £11m of the cost of policing the protests had been "new money", while the rest was a result of "time not being spent on the things that matter".

"I think that it's a sadness," he added.

"That money should have been spent on tackling drug dealers, it should have been spent on officers patrolling in the heart of our most disadvantaged areas, it should have been spent on people trafficking, it should have been spent on new technology, it's been wasted dealing with disturbances and disorder that should never have happened in the first place."

(IT)