DRUMCREE POLICING OPERATION COSTS £3M, SAYS PSNI CHIEF

Policing the Drumcree parading dispute has cost approximately £3 million so far, Chief Constable Jon Boutcher told a meeting of the Policing Board. He described the situation as "challenging" but said that despite "significant tensions", no violence had occurred. Boutcher's update came as the Policing Board confirmed it has opened a code-of-conduct investigation into one of its own members, Sinn Féin's Deirdre Hargey, following complaints made against her. The investigation relates to Hargey's participation in a protest on the Garvaghy Road in Portadown on Sunday, which organisers had not authorised.

The Drumcree dispute centres on parading in the Portadown area of County Armagh and has required a sustained policing presence from the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Boutcher, who leads the PSNI, gave his cost estimate directly to board members rather than in a separate statement. The Policing Board oversees the conduct of the police service and also scrutinises the conduct of its own members, which is the basis for the inquiry into Hargey. Sinn Féin has not yet issued a public response to the investigation, according to the available reporting.

The Policing Board said the code-of-conduct investigation into Hargey would proceed following the complaints received. Boutcher's remarks on cost and tension levels came as part of a wider briefing to the board on the ongoing policing operation. No further details on timescales for the investigation or the total projected cost of policing the dispute have yet been confirmed. The BBC said more information would follow as the situation develops.