Bill for sectarian attacks on schools may reach £5m

SECTARIAN damage to Northern Ireland schools after Drumcree has already cost £3 million and could result in an overall bill of £5 million. This comes on top of the extra £10 million for policing Drumcree and the subsequent disturbances during the marching season. The final post, Drumcree bill could be over £20 million.

The Department of Education in the North has told controlled schools that there is no additional funding for repairs. Such schools must pay for the damage from existing resources.

The Ulster Teachers' Union has warned that the Department has underestimated the overall cost of sectarian arson and vandal attacks on schools and that the final bill could over £5 million.

During the summer, more than 20 schools were badly damaged in sectarian attacks. Many of these are Catholic maintained schools which are insured. However, the controlled schools run by the education and library boards are not covered by insurance.

A spokesman for the North's Education Department said the estimated cost of damage to voluntary schools, mostly Catholic maintained schools, was £1.7 million.

Insurance claims are expected to cater for these bills, although the Compensation Board will finally have to meet the costs, resulting in an additional £1.7 million bill for the UK taxpayer.

Controlled schools, however, were not insured and have no final recourse to the Compensation Board, according to the Department. Damage to this sector was currently estimated at £1 million. The spokesman said while the Department was pressing for additional funding, it had received no commitments from the British exchequer.

Mr Gerry Kelly, chief executive of the Southern Education Board in the North, which is confronted with a £400,000 repair bill, said the news was shocking and disappointing. He warned that work in the classroom could suffer.

Mr David Allen, a spokesman for the Ulster Teachers' Union, said the Department's decision would inevitably cause redundancies and increase classroom sizes.

The damage to schools and the extra police bill brings the total cost of this summer's post Drumcree disturbances to between £13 million and £15 million. That, however, does not include the cost of sectarian damage to private homes, churches and other property. The final cost may be £20 million.