Report traces rise in NI violence

New statistics published yesterday forcefully illustrate that despite the ceasefires, Northern Ireland has developed into a very violent society. In 1950 there were two murders in the North; half a century later there were 78 murders.

These are just some of the facts contained in the 79th annual report of the registrar general which provides details on births, deaths and marriages in the North in 2000 and points to great changes in Northern society over 50 years.

A special chapter in the report makes interesting comparisons between 1950 and 2000. In 1950, there were 48 suicides, a figure which increased to 163 by 2000.

The number of births in 2000 was much lower than in 1950, 21,512 against 28,794 . In 1950 the number of children born outside marriage was 986 (3 per cent). Last year it was 6,833 (32 per cent).

Last year circulatory and respiratory diseases and cancer accounted for 83 per cent of the 14,903 registered deaths, which is considerably higher than in 1950. Cancer caused 13 per cent of deaths in 1950. That figure rose to 24 per cent last year.

It seems surprising that given the increased volume of traffic nowadays that road fatalities are on a par - 123 in 1950 and 129 in 2000. As the statistics also point out, however, Northern Ireland has had some success in reducing such deaths.

There were 9,084 marriages in 1950 compared with 7,584 in 2000. The population has increased by 23 per cent from 1,396,000 to 1,689,000 over those 50 years.

Since 1950 there were about 1,420,000 births and 790.000 deaths in Northern Ireland, leading the statisticians to speculate that without so much emigration in the intervening 50 years, the population in the province could now be about 2 million.