asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs, in respect of each month or other suitable period from the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement to date, the number of UDR operations involving direct contact with the community; and the percentage of those operations in which there was a police presence.
Written Answers. - UDR Operations.
50.
Paragraph 8 (a) of the Hillsborough Communiqué of 15 November 1985 highlighted the importance of the application of the principle that the Armed Forces, which includes the Ulster Defence Regiment, operate only in support of the civil power. This was one of the issues discussed at the most recent meeting of the Intergovernmental Conference on 18 October, which reiterated the principle that it is the police who have the primary responsibility for the maintenance of law and order in Northern Ireland and that the armed forces, including the regular Army and UDR, operate in support of the police and only for so long as the threat from terrorism makes that support necessary.
At the conference, it was agreed that a working group of officials should make early recommendations, in accordance with the recent review of the agreement, on further effective development of the policy of ensuring as rapidly as possible that, save in the most exceptional circumstances, there should be a police presence in all operations which involve direct contact between the Armed Forces and the community.
I expect the first meeting of this working group to take place in the immediate future. In the meantime, I have to say that the information which I have received from the British authorities about the level of accompaniment has been conveyed to me on a strictly confidential basis.