Background to the Research

• Whilst research concerning the conflict in NI is extensive, relatively little is know about the nature and the extent of the impact of the Troubles on individuals.
• This book offers the first in-depth analysis of the impact of armed conflict on the people of NI and is based on an extensive survey carried out by The Cost of the Troubles Study team.
  

Research Approach

• A major part of the data presented in the book is derived from a data-base of deaths in NI created by the survey researchers and on case studies of selected postal districts in order to map the demography of deaths, their geographical distribution and the relationship between these and other factors such as deprivation.
  

Main Findings

• Since 1969, 3,601 people have been killed in NI and around 6,800 people have experienced having a member of their immediate family killed in a Troubles-related incident. It is estimated that 40,000 people have been injured in the troubles.
• Civilians are the largest category killed, accounting for 53% of the total, with British Army the second largest at 15%, Republican Paramilitaries 13% and the RUC 8%.
• The overwhelming majority of those killed have been male, the death risk was greatest for those aged between 20 and 24 years and almost 26% of all victims were aged 21 or under.
• The absolute death rate for Catholics is greater than for Protestants, if security forces, Catholics killed by republicans and Protestants killed by loyalists are included. In analysis of death by religion the death rates for Catholics and Protestants are much closer (1.9% per 1,000 and 1.6% per 1,000 respectively).
• In terms of responsibility for deaths, republican Paramilitaries have killed 74% of all Protestants killed, over 25% of all Catholics and almost 96% of those classified as 'non Northern Ireland'. Loyalist Paramilitaries killed 19% of all Protestants killed, almost 50% of all Catholics, and just 2% of the 'non Northern Ireland'.
• In relation to the distribution of deaths, calculated by a death rate by ward, there was a concentration of deaths in Belfast with only 15 of the 57 highest ranking wards outside the Belfast area. Derry/Londonderry and Armagh account for most of the remaining wards.
• The distribution of death rates in the Troubles was correlated with the Robson deprivation indicator, and it is clear that the wards with high deprivation scores predominate amongst those with the largest number of deaths.
• Around 100,000 people in NI live in households where someone has been injured in a Troubles-related incident.