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Final figures for the costs of policing and securing the G8 summit have been revealed at £75m. The total bill for the event has been measured at £80m, which is twice the figure that had been expected. The remaining £5m was spent on additional measures like road improvements. 8,000 police officers were drafted in for the event and London has said that they will meet £60m of the total bill with the remaining £20m to be met by Northern Ireland.
The G8 conference saw leaders from eight of the world’s most powerful countries meeting to discuss global events. Topics included environmental issues as well as global finance and security. The summit was held at the Lough Erne hotel in Co Fermanagh. Security was taken extremely seriously with fears over protests and violent episodes but only two arrests were made throughout the entire summit.
£5m of the total bill was spent on things like improving the roads around Enniskillen and ensuring that the event had effective publicity. Some of the money was also spent on ensuring that hospitals and other public service buildings were thoroughly and effectively manned. However, this was only a fraction of the costs that were racked up during the two day event.
One of the biggest security bills was for a giant metal barrier placed around the island where the event took place. The barrier cost more than £4m to build and erect and was accompanied by road closures. Even single lane farm tracks and small roads were closed, although a handful of locals were granted access to their properties.
A total of 8,000 police officers were used during the event and many of these came over from mainland Britain and were used to steward and herald the event. A former British Army barracks was used as a temporary custody facility while all officers involved in the event received specialised training to handle disputes and potential violence.
While the surrounding fence was breached for a short time, the demonstration remained peaceful, and this was largely the tone for the whole event. Only two arrests were made throughout the two days and the majority of officers at the event, as well as the vast majority of the temporary custody facility, went unused.
The UK government has paid £60m of the total £80m bill with Stormont footing the remaining £20m bill. Stormont minister from the Department of Justice Mr Wilson said that the true financial benefit of hosting the summit will not be realised for many years to come and that the most important thing was that the summit had been held successfully and safely with no major incidents.
The G8 summit is held annually and attended by the heads of government of the world’s eight most powerful countries. This year’s main topics were the Syrian conflict, tax evasion, trade, and government transparency. The summit is viewed as being a beneficial event for the country that hosts it but previous summits have been plagued by security issues. In July 2005, while the summit was held in Edinburgh 52 people were killed by suicide bombers in London.
The G8 conference saw leaders from eight of the world’s most powerful countries meeting to discuss global events. Topics included environmental issues as well as global finance and security. The summit was held at the Lough Erne hotel in Co Fermanagh. Security was taken extremely seriously with fears over protests and violent episodes but only two arrests were made throughout the entire summit.
£5m of the total bill was spent on things like improving the roads around Enniskillen and ensuring that the event had effective publicity. Some of the money was also spent on ensuring that hospitals and other public service buildings were thoroughly and effectively manned. However, this was only a fraction of the costs that were racked up during the two day event.
One of the biggest security bills was for a giant metal barrier placed around the island where the event took place. The barrier cost more than £4m to build and erect and was accompanied by road closures. Even single lane farm tracks and small roads were closed, although a handful of locals were granted access to their properties.
A total of 8,000 police officers were used during the event and many of these came over from mainland Britain and were used to steward and herald the event. A former British Army barracks was used as a temporary custody facility while all officers involved in the event received specialised training to handle disputes and potential violence.
While the surrounding fence was breached for a short time, the demonstration remained peaceful, and this was largely the tone for the whole event. Only two arrests were made throughout the two days and the majority of officers at the event, as well as the vast majority of the temporary custody facility, went unused.
The UK government has paid £60m of the total £80m bill with Stormont footing the remaining £20m bill. Stormont minister from the Department of Justice Mr Wilson said that the true financial benefit of hosting the summit will not be realised for many years to come and that the most important thing was that the summit had been held successfully and safely with no major incidents.
The G8 summit is held annually and attended by the heads of government of the world’s eight most powerful countries. This year’s main topics were the Syrian conflict, tax evasion, trade, and government transparency. The summit is viewed as being a beneficial event for the country that hosts it but previous summits have been plagued by security issues. In July 2005, while the summit was held in Edinburgh 52 people were killed by suicide bombers in London.