Cash up in smoke
Disruption at Twelfth proves a costly business
by Damian McCarney
Get set to put your hand deep in your pocket as more vast sums of public cash go up in smoke as Belfast braces itself for another summer of bonfires and marches.
Each year Orange Order marches bring the city to a standstill with parades, road blockages, bonfires and sporadic violence. The activity on the streets places a huge financial burden on public bodies which is inevitably footed by the taxpayer.
The Andersonstown News contacted the numerous public agencies whose services are called on over the Twelfth to count costs of last year’s loyalist ‘celebrations’.
Of the three emergency services, the PSNI account for the greatest cost.
The expense of policing the Twelfth marches in Belfast came to £642,000.
However, this almost pales into insignificance when we consider that policing for marches across the whole of the North from April 1 until September 30 last year cost a startling £9,242,580.
The Ambulance Service is over twice as busy on the Eleventh Night as any other, with 72 call-outs as compared to 34 call-outs on an average night. The cost of employing the six additional crews required for both the Eleventh and Twelfth to cope with the extra demand comes to £3,600.
Surprisingly, the Fire Service claims to have no additional expense for these two days. In Belfast they do not employ extra staff for the Eleventh Night as they have full-time staff who receive the same payment whether they are called out or not. However, their crews and vehicles are put under increased pressure as they received 78 bonfire-related calls last year on the Eleventh Night.
The Roads Service spent £66,000 on repairing what the Department for Regional Development (DRD) call ‘burn sites’ in Belfast. Burn sites are where loyalist youths build bonfires on the road causing enormous damage to the tarmac surface.
Last year Belfast City Council provided loyalist groups with £50,000 as part of a Bonfire Management Pilot Scheme in a bid to encourage a more responsible approach by bonfire organisers. This year Belfast City Council has doled out £45,000. In addition, Belfast City Council also spent £48,000 on cleaning up the bonfire mess.
Eleventh night bonfires are often held on Housing Executive green areas. The charred remains must be removed but the most significant damage, financially speaking, is that caused to the scorched earth.
In 2003, the last time that an assessment of costs was conducted, the Housing Executive had spent £4,500-£5,000 on reseeding green areas and conducting repairs to damaged properties in Belfast.
Across the North, in 2003 they spent £91,000, the majority of which was on reseeding after bonfires.
These costs do not include the loss incurred to both businesses and the exchequer from the Twelfth’s status as a bank holiday.
In addition to the cost met from the public purse there were also huge expenses on private individuals which are incalculable.
Sinn Féin councillor Paul Maskey said that the money is wasted and greatly needed elsewhere.
“If this money was redirected into local facilities it would make an enormous difference. Just look at Féile who have lost £100,000 in funding and yet they have brought millions and millions into the West of the city.”
The total cost of the Twelfth in Belfast is £814,600.
No-one from the Orange Order was available for comment.
Journalist:: Damien McCarney
