Published Friday, 14 October 2011
Figures from the PSNI show that £5.7m was poured into dealing with parades and resulting public disorder between April and August 2011.
Assistant Chief Constable Alistair Finlay said that the policing operations "facilitated human rights and protected communities".
He added: "The vast majority of parades passed off peacefully - however, unfortunately, violence broke out in a few small areas during the summer.
"This was not representative of the vast majority of communities across Northern Ireland who are working side by side for a better future."
The statistics, which were compiled at the request of the Policing Board, revealed that £2.2m was needed to police the Twelfth of July period alone.
Trouble specifically in Ardoyne on 12 and 13 July cost the taxpayer nearly £800,000.
The cost incurred as a result of disorder in east Belfast and Ballyclare was not included, as it was not directly linked to any parades.
Given current pressures on the policing budget and the public purse, I have no doubt the wider community will share the concerns of Policing Board members on this issue.
Conall McDevitt, SDLP
"Whilst policing costs are broadly similar to those of previous years, these figures are still shocking," the SDLP's Conall McDevitt said.
Speaking as chairman of the Policing Board's Human Rights and Professional Standards Committee, he added that existing pressures on budgets and resources would make such costs a real public concern.
"For communities that have been affected by serious public disorder, there is a much wider cost that is not measurable in monetary terms but has a very serious community impact".
DUP Policing Board member Robin Newton said the figures were in effect "the cost of cultural intolerance" and called for more respect for differences between communities.
"Parades not only enrich the cultural diversity of Northern Ireland, but they can actually act as an economic driver through increasing our tourism," he said.
"However, opposition to parades driven largely on intolerance and bigotry not only costs our society in terms of the tensions created, but places a real financial cost onto the police which could be better spent tackling crime."
Sinn Féin Policing Board member Gerry Kelly claimed dialogue was the "simple solution" to the problem of policing parades and added that the onus was on the Orange Order.
"The agreement over the future of parading reached last year at the Executive produced a legislative way forward, however yet again the Orange Order blocked its acceptance," he said.
"There is a huge number of parades that take place each year and they cause no offence and very little cost. If everyone sits down round the table on an equal basis, then these few contentious parades can be resolved if there is a will there to do it."
Parades Commission Chairman Peter Osborne says the figures are "a sobering reminder of the cost of contention around disputed parades".
"We believe there is an onus on elected politicians, parade organisers, community and civic leaders and others to engage in dialogue and to work towards agreement in those few remaining areas where contention remains," he said.