The number of shootings, bombings and killings in Northern Ireland increased during the period 2000/2001, according to a report published yesterday.
There were 331 shooting incidents linked to the security situation compared to 131 during the previous 12-month period. Eighteen people were killed in the conflict, compared to seven in 1999/2000. They were all civilians.
The figures are contained in a report by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency which was published by the North's Finance Minister, Dr Seβn Farren.
The number of shootings and bomb attacks in 2000/2001 was higher than at any time since the 1994 Provisional IRA and loyalist ceasefires. There were 177 bombing incidents in 2000/2001 compared to 66 during the previous 12-month period.
The number of people injured as a result of the security situation rose by more than 25 per cent - from 878 in 1999/2000 to 1,101. More than half of those - 613 - were civilians. There were 509 armed robberies in 2000/2001 - an increase of 18 per cent on the previous 12-month period - in which more than £2 million was stolen.
The overall level of recorded crime increased by 1 per cent on 1999/2000. However, the North's crime rate per 1,000 of population (70.6) remains lower than that in England and Wales (98.1).
The number of crimes cleared by the police decreased from 30 per cent in 1999/2000 to 27 per cent. During 2000/2001, drugs with a street value of almost £10 million were seized and 1,200 drug-related arrests were made. The amount of cocaine and opiates, including heroin, seized was markedly higher than in the previous 12-month period.
More than 850,000 ecstasy tablets were seized during the past two years, over three times as many as in 1997/1999.
The survey puts the estimated population of Northern Ireland on June 30th 2000 at 1,697,800. There were just under 23,000 resident live births in 1999, 3 per cent fewer than the previous year.
The report also shows that deaths and injuries on the North's roads were up 10 per cent on the 1999 total.
In Dublin, it is understood that problems with the Garda's new multi-million-pound computerised information system have contributed to the record delay in issuing the annual crime figures for 2000, writes Jim Cusack.
The annual crime report traditionally came out in the first half of the following year.
However, in recent years the delay has lengthened. The report is complete, it is understood, and it may be released before the end of the year.