Last year marked the first 12-month period since Northern Ireland police records began in 1969 that no security-related death occurred in the conflict-scarred UK region, statistics showed Friday.
More than 3,500 people were killed during decades of sectarian strife that began in the late 1960s over British rule in Northern Ireland.
“There were no security-related deaths during the last 12-month period, compared to one during the previous 12 months,” said the Police Service of Northern Ireland in an annual report.
“This is the first calendar year since records began in 1969 that there has not been a security-related death,” said the report.
Known as the Troubles, the conflict between pro-Irish unity nationalists and pro-UK unionists largely ended with peace accords in 1998.
But since then bombings, shootings, and paramilitary style beatings have persisted, albeit on a much lower level than during the Troubles.
The PSNI recorded eight bombing incidents in 2023, compared to five the previous year, and 33 shooting incidents compared to 29.
There were 31 casualties of paramilitary style assaults, compared to 25 during the previous 12 months, according to the report.
