Olympic torch eventscost Londonderry ratepayers over £80k

Peter Jack with the Olympic torch last year. When the flame passed through Lononderry it cost ratepayers £80k.

The expenditure relates to the procession and an evening celebration in the city.

Londonderry was one of four places throughout Northern Ireland that hosted evening celebrations prior to the London Olympics of 2012.

Ratepayers forked out £80,902 for the event.

This relates to costs solely attributed to Derry City Council and does not include any of the costs in terms of policing the event, which was in fact targeted by republican protestors.

The biggest overhead was the provision of stewards. This cost £24,951 in total.

The next most expensive item was the public address system combined with the CCTV system. This cost £14,546.50.

And paying all the performers who took part on the day and night of the procession set ratepayers back £10,932.25.

Equipment such as barriers and stages cost £9,272.11; additional council staff cost £7479.04; whilst various contractors cost £6563.93.

Sundries such as disposable items (£3,639.28); photography (£1,347.90); First Aid (£1,260); and transport (£910) accounted for the remainder to the costs.

Last year as the torch visited Londonderry on its way to London a group of republican protestors forced a small diversion.

At the time, DUP MP for East Londonderry Gregory Campbell said the protestors were “pathetic.”

“The minor inconvenience which it brought is not the major issue, it is not even the negative headlines that their actions bring to Northern Ireland which is the overriding concern, but it is the potential that their activities bring to the first ever UK City of Culture events next year,” said Mr Campbell.

“It is clear they are not going to be reasoned with, therefore the response from within their own community must now be swift and unequivocal and the security response to dealing with their efforts will need to be reviewed.”

In a statement released after the minor disruption the PSNI said: “The decision to implement a small diversion to the route of the torch was taken to ensure the safety of all concerned and to ensure the enjoyment of the event by the vast majority of spectators was not affected.”