Temporary · live

Policing cost of the Drumcree stand-off

Estimated policing cost to date £5,000,000
What the estimated cost to date equals in NI public spending
Alternative useCost to date equals

Latest Updates — Northern Ireland
UPDATED
Northern Ireland (Red Hand of Ulster) Northern Ireland 10 Nov 2026: The Irish Government has confirmed that the North South Interconnector will run overhead, with energisation expected around Oct 2031 (Irish Times; Dáil, 5 Nov). Narrow Water Bridge steel arrived from Belgium on 20 Oct for assembly over the coming months (Taoiseach, Dáil, 3 Nov). Belfast Stories: the BBC studio-space deal goes ahead, with construction planned by the end of 2027 and opening in 2030 (BBC News NI, 6 Nov). DfI published its Everyday Active Travel Urban Delivery Plan, with 140km of priority routes estimated at £140m–£280m over 10 years (DfI, 9 Nov). Portadown flood scheme: the earliest 1 Nov contract start has passed with no Phase 1 award published. Magilligan redevelopment is officially on hold. 23 Oct 2026: Belfast Trust faced Assembly committee questions on overruns across four major capital schemes; the new Children’s Hospital has slipped from 2020 to the early 2030s, and DUP MLA Diane Dodds called the projects a ‘shambles’ (Irish News/PA, 22 Oct 2026). An MLA has asked the Irish government to step in to rescue the long-delayed Buncrana Road widening in Derry, which has been on the drawing board for over 50 years (Irish News, 21 Oct 2026). 21 Oct 2026: DfI began utility diversion works in People’s Park on 19 Oct for Phase 1 of the £60m Portadown Flood Alleviation Scheme, covering 21 locations and more than 380 homes and businesses (DfI, 19 Oct 2026). DfI told Mid and East Antrim council the opening structural maintenance allocation is about £98m, about £30m higher than last year (DfI, 20 Oct 2026). 13 Oct 2026: DfI still gives no start date for the £36m Enniskillen bypass, £120m–£130m A1 junctions or £23m–£28m Lagan footbridge after the A5 win; proposals will go to the Minister “as a matter of priority” (News Letter, 13 Oct 2026). Public Transport Statistics NI 2025–26 published by DfI (16 Sep 2026). City & Growth Deals audit (NIAO, Jul 2026): only £58m of £1.3bn spent by Mar 2025 (<5%), forecast £113m (8.5%) by Mar 2026. Local Growth Fund 2026/27: £27.4m capital across Stormont depts.
Northern Ireland — DrumcreeDrumcree stand-off: the parade was banned on 9 Oct 2026 after 13 days. Justice Minister Naomi Long told the Assembly the policing cost is now estimated at £5.5m (19 Oct 2026). See the NI dashboard.→ Northern Ireland — A5 ruling, 6 Oct 2026A5 Western Transport Corridor: the Court of Appeal in Belfast today allowed DfI’s appeal on all grounds, lifting the legal block on the first phase (ITV News; Irish Times; Belfast Live, 6 Oct 2026). The Alternative A5 Alliance can still seek permission to appeal to the UK Supreme Court; no application has been reported. Cost of delay: had it gone ahead as planned in 2012 (completion 2018), the approved business case was £799m (£975m at 2017 prices); it is now £2.1bn (DfI, Oct 2024) — roughly £1.1bn–£1.3bn more to be borne, plus £192.5m already spent with no road built (NIAO 2019; DfI, Sep 2026). For the families of the more than 50 people killed on the A5 since 2006 (ITV News; BBC), it is a day when their prayers were in some way answered — CPD hopes no further lives are lost while the scheme moves forward, with Climate Change Act compliance remaining an important factor. No construction start date yet.→
In memory of the 58 people who have lost their lives on the A5 since 2007 (Donegal News, 3 Nov 2026) — A5 Enough is Enough
Northern Ireland — Ballykinlar GAA hub — tenders returned, Nov 2026Down GAA’s Ballykinlar Centre of Participation, Wellbeing and Shared Learning Hub, Co. Down. Funding: the PEACEPLUS grant is quoted in euros (€15,383,951, SEUPB), and the council (£0.5m) and Down GAA (£2m) contributions are in sterling. That gives a funding package of about £15.4m at the Nov 2024 ECB rate. Main-contractor procurement began in Feb 2026. Down GAA’s timeline targets contractor appointment and construction start in Q4 2026 and completion in Q2 2028, “subject to change” (Down GAA). Contractors’ tenders have now been returned and evaluation is under way, according to industry sources. Down GAA has not yet confirmed this publicly, and no contractor has been named. What to expect, as general QS guidance and not a Down GAA timetable: once tenders are returned, quality assessment typically takes about 6 weeks and price assessment a further 2 weeks. That means roughly 8 weeks before any public announcement, which points to around late December 2026 to early January 2027.→
Construction costs — 10-year check, 2016 to 2026Has building nearly doubled in cost in ten years? In Ireland, almost: commercial tender prices rose 83% from the first half of 2016 to the first half of 2026 (SCSI Tender Price Index, Aug 2026). In Great Britain the rise is closer to half than double: prices paid for new construction work rose 47% from June 2016 to June 2026 — housing 55%, infrastructure 44%, public buildings 41% (ONS construction output price indices, Aug 2026). Building materials rose faster, 68% from the 2016 average to August 2026 (DBT, provisional), against 42% for general prices over the same ten years (ONS CPI). No official Northern Ireland-only price index exists: NISRA price-adjusts NI construction output using these ONS indices because “regional OPIs are not available” (NISRA construction methodology report, Dec 2025). Construction has outpaced general inflation, so every year a scheme drifts it is re-priced in a dearer market.Non-official comparison — not an official statisticRider Levett Bucknall, a private consultancy, forecasts Northern Ireland tender prices to rise 3% in 2026 and 3.25% a year in 2027, 2028 and 2029 — about 13% over the four years if compounded (CPD calculation). RLB names labour as “the most significant driver of construction inflation” in NI. This is a commercial forecast, not a measured 10-year change (RLB Construction Market Intelligence, Northern Ireland, Q3 2026).
🌍All jurisdictionsOpen the British Isles & Australia hub for updates across all seven jurisdictions, the separate per-currency overrun clocks and the reconciliation panel.→
ExtendIQ SiteIQ NI
LATEST
Planning2025/26 finalised data — 3 of 11 councils meet 15-week target: Fermanagh & Omagh (7.6w), Mid & East Antrim (7.6w), Antrim & Newtownabbey (13.0w)● PlanningBest combined performance: Fermanagh & Omagh — 7.6w average · 96.8% approval rate · ranked #1 across all 11 NI councils 2025/26● City DealsNI Audit Office: £1.221bn unspent at Mar 2025 — 4.36% of £1.334bn total drawn down — inflation eroding real value at 3–5% annually● Delays12 schemes in Significant Delay · 9 Minor Delay · 7 Paused · 5 Not Started — 0 Completed across 40 tracked NI schemes● Cost Clock£17.00/sec — NI overrun clock running since 29 Apr 2026 — base overrun £5.784bn● A5 WesternA5 Dual Carriageway: not a metre of road built — Court of Appeal cleared the legal block on 6 Oct 2026; no start date yet — Significant Delay — estimated cost overrun tracked in live counter● York StYork Street Interchange: Significant Delay — most complex road junction in Ireland — cost overrun accumulating● UK contextEngland’s local roads cull: DfT is cutting funding to control spending — 24 English schemes reported dropped unless a strong business case and funding can be shown (Construction Enquirer, 14 Oct 2026). Roads in NI are devolved and funded separately by Stormont. SiteIQ NISiteIQ NI now live at siteiq.quintinqs.com — planning and construction resource hub for Northern Ireland — visit via the badge top right● Planning2025/26 finalised data — 3 of 11 councils meet 15-week target: Fermanagh & Omagh (7.6w), Mid & East Antrim (7.6w), Antrim & Newtownabbey (13.0w)● PlanningBest combined performance: Fermanagh & Omagh — 7.6w average · 96.8% approval rate · ranked #1 across all 11 NI councils 2025/26● City DealsNI Audit Office: £1.221bn unspent at Mar 2025 — 4.36% of £1.334bn total drawn down — inflation eroding real value at 3–5% annually● Delays12 schemes in Significant Delay · 9 Minor Delay · 7 Paused · 5 Not Started — 0 Completed across 40 tracked NI schemes● Cost Clock£17.00/sec — NI overrun clock running since 29 Apr 2026 — base overrun £5.784bn● A5 WesternA5 Dual Carriageway: not a metre of road built — Court of Appeal cleared the legal block on 6 Oct 2026; no start date yet — Significant Delay — estimated cost overrun tracked in live counter● York StYork Street Interchange: Significant Delay — most complex road junction in Ireland — cost overrun accumulating● UK contextEngland’s local roads cull: DfT is cutting funding to control spending — 24 English schemes reported dropped unless a strong business case and funding can be shown (Construction Enquirer, 14 Oct 2026). Roads in NI are devolved and funded separately by Stormont. SiteIQ NISiteIQ NI now live at siteiq.quintinqs.com — planning and construction resource hub for Northern Ireland — visit via the badge top right●
⚠ This tracker records NI Executive infrastructure announcements and compares them to current estimates and actual delivery. Cost overrun figures are based on official and published sources. 2032 projections are illustrative forecasts using BCIS construction inflation rates — not confirmed costs. Data updated manually as new information becomes available.
Cost overrun — accumulating during your visit £0.00 Counting from when you opened this page
Total confirmed overrun — running since announced £6,399,931,334.00
Confirmed cost overrun — announced vs current estimate — vs announced cost across all schemes
Illustrative forecast — if undelivered by end of mandate 2032 — Indicative projection only · BCIS inflation rates · not a confirmed cost
Average delay — per scheme — —
Same money could fund 523,785 Elective surgeries · DoH NI avg £7k/op (Elective Care Framework May 2025) · = 99% of NI's 527,062-patient waiting list (DoH Mar 2026)

Status Breakdown

Delay in Weeks — by Scheme

Cost Variance — Announced vs. Current Estimate (£m)

Projected Cost if Not Completed on Site by End of NI Executive Mandate 2032 — BCIS Inflation Basis (£m)

Civil/infrastructure schemes: ~4.4% p.a. (BCIS civil TPI +24% to 2030). Buildings/health: ~3.2% p.a. (BCIS All-in TPI +17% to 2030). Forecast horizon: end of next NI Executive mandate (2032). Completed schemes and those with confirmed contracts excluded. Source: BCIS Jan 2026 / Julian Hobbs & Co (BCIS).

⚠ Illustrative forecast only — not a confirmed or contracted cost. Projected to 2032 (end of next NI Executive mandate) by compounding current published estimates at BCIS sector inflation rates (civil/infrastructure ~4.4% p.a.; buildings ~3.2% p.a.). The purpose is to show the cost consequence of continued delay, not to predict exact outturn. Actual costs will depend on design development, procurement strategy, programme decisions, and market conditions at time of tender.

Data Sources & References

SchemeSource Document / PublicationPublisher

All costs and programme data are drawn from official NI Executive, DfI, NIAO, DoH and EU sources. Where costs have changed, the most recently published official figure is used as the current estimate. Figures marked 'announced' reflect the cost stated at the time of the original ministerial announcement or business case. This tracker is maintained by Kevin Barry QS (QUINTIN QS) and is not an official government publication. ETI scores and Stranded Value figures are independent analytical indicators — they do not replicate or replace scheme-specific DfI appraisals or WebTAG/TUBA-compliant transport modelling. BCR inputs use published or analogous benchmarks; delivery certainty scores reflect professional judgement applied consistently. The methodology is fully disclosed and grounded in HM Treasury Green Book principles (2026 update). If DfI or any department holds more accurate scheme data, QUINTIN QS will update immediately upon notification. 🍓 If you believe any figure or fact shown here is incorrect, please write to mail@kevinbarryqs.com with the relevant scheme name, the correct figure, and a source reference — we will review and correct immediately if the evidence supports it. We are, after all, still human.

CPD Index methodology: CPD-C (Cost) and CPD-D (Delivery) are each scored 0–100. The cost overrun % contribution to CPD-C is capped at 50 points — schemes with overruns above 100% score the maximum on this component. The combined CPD score applies a 60/40 weighting — 60% CPD-D (Delivery) and 40% CPD-C (Cost), reflecting the judgement that delivery failure imposes compounding societal and economic costs beyond the overrun figure alone. A score of 100 indicates perfect delivery; 0 indicates complete systemic failure.

CPD — about this acronym: CPD stands for Continued Prolonged Delays — a general acronym chosen to highlight the core issues of cost overrun and delayed delivery in public infrastructure. Any similarity to the name or acronym of any existing organisation is purely coincidental and is not intended as a reflection on, or reference to, any such body.

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Roads & Transport Pipeline — Northern Ireland. A categorised register of road and transport schemes structured by pipeline stage. Based on the scheme register maintained by Wesley Johnston (wesleyjohnston.com/roads), who has tracked NI road schemes since 2004. This register covers roads and transport only — no CPD scoring is applied. For the full scored CPD register across all NI infrastructure sectors, use the CPD Register tab above.
Last checked against wesleyjohnston.com/roads: 23 Oct 2026 — latest Wesley Johnston blog post: “DFI win their appeal to the A5 legal challenge” (7 Oct 2026). 13 Oct 2026: DfI has still not given start dates for the Enniskillen bypass, A1 junctions or Lagan footbridge (News Letter, 13 Oct 2026).
—Total schemes
—Active / imminent
—Actively planned
—Paused
—Proposed
—Cancelled
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Best Council for Planning Approvals — 2025/26
Fermanagh & Omagh
Ranked #1 combined: 7.6 weeks average processing  ·  96.8% approval rate  ·  joint fastest (with Mid & East Antrim), 3rd highest approval across all 11 councils
7.6w
avg decision
Council Dashboard — Northern Ireland (11 Councils). Infrastructure investment, CPD scheme distribution, and key socio-economic indicators by Local Government District. CPD scheme counts and scores are derived from the 40 schemes in the CPD Register — NI-wide schemes (water, broadband, schools) are excluded from individual council totals.
Population: NISRA mid-year estimates 2023/2024. Deprivation: NIMDM 2017 (most recent published; derived council proxy rank). Claimant count: NISRA/HMRC Aug 2024. Housing stress: NIHE waiting list 31 Mar 2024 (applicants with 30+ points).
Economic indicators: Invest NI — Performance by Council Area (GVA/head 2023, Median Annual Earnings 2025 ASHE, NVQ4+ 2024 LFS); Employment rate: NISRA APS 2024 via FactCheckNI. NI average: GVA/head £32,944; Employment rate 74.3%.
11Councils
—Council schemes
—Council overrun
1.93mTotal population
11,302In housing stress
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Highlight: — highlights top / bottom 3 councils per economic metric
Full comparison table
Council Pop. Depriv.
Rank
Claimant
Rate
Inactivity
Rate
Housing
Stress
CPD
Schemes
Overrun CPD
Score
Median
Earnings
GVA/
head
NVQ4+
%
Employ.
Rate
Planning
Dec. 25/26
Avg Proc.
Time
* Deprivation rank: 1 = most deprived (derived proxy from NIMDM 2017 — % of council SOAs in top 100 most deprived NI SOAs). Council-level deprivation ranks with ≈ are approximate estimates. CPD Score: weighted 40% cost / 60% delivery, applied to council-specific schemes only. NI-wide schemes excluded. Fewer schemes = less reliable score.
Median Earnings: annual earnings by residence 2025 (ASHE). GVA/head: Gross Value Added per head 2023 — workplace-based; Ards & North Down residents commute outward, explaining low GVA despite high residential earnings. NI average: GVA/head £32,944 | Employment rate 74.3%. Source: Invest NI — Performance by Council Area.
Planning Performance: local applications decided, approval rate and average (median) processing time in weeks by council, April 2025 – March 2026 (finalised full-year figures). Statutory target: 15 weeks (local applications). 3 of 11 councils meet the target: Fermanagh & Omagh (7.6w), Mid & East Antrim (7.6w), Antrim & Newtownabbey (13.0w); Fermanagh & Omagh ranks ahead on approval rate (96.8% v 93.6%). Source: DfI NI Planning Statistics 2025/26 annual bulletin, Table 4.2 (published August 2026). ▲ Best = green | ▼ Worst = red highlights apply to economic columns (top/bottom 3 councils).
NI City & Growth Deals — Audit Tracker
Six deals · £1,334m total commitment · Source: NI Audit Office, Northern Ireland City & Growth Deals (Jul 2026) · Utilisation figures are NIAO forecasts to March 2026; actual to March 2025 was £58m (<5%)
£1,334m
Total Committed
£113.1m
Utilised (forecast to Mar 2026)
8.5%
Utilisation Rate
6
Active Deals
Spent vs Unspent (£m)
% Utilised by Deal
Inflation Erosion (3% vs 5% pa)
Deal Timeline
Deal-by-Deal Audit Reconciliation — NI Audit Office (Jul 2026), forecast to March 2026
Deal Committed Utilised Unspent % Used Status
Belfast Region City Deal (BRCD) £700m £104.2m £595.8m 14.9% On Track
Derry City & Strabane DC (DCSDC) £100m £3.3m £96.7m 3.3% Minor Delay
Innovation & Future Fund (IFF) £110m £0.9m £109.1m 0.8% Significant Delay
Causeway Coast & Glens (CCG) £72m £0m £72m 0% Not Started
Mid South West (MSW) £252m £0m £252m 0% Not Started
NI Energy Capital Fund (NIECF) £100m £4.8m £95.2m 4.8% Minor Delay
Source: NI Audit Office — Northern Ireland City & Growth Deals report (published Jul 2026). Figures verified Jul 2026.

NI School Capital Tracker — 40 Schemes

GIFA and £/m² shown where sourced from named documents. Full detail at Schools Dashboard ↗

NI School Capital Tracker — Map View

40 schemes · Click any numbered pin to view scheme detail

Map of Northern Ireland
40 schemes
40 SCHEMES
1Strule Shared Education Campus
2Down High School — New Campus
3St Ronan's College — New Campus
4Dunclug College — New Campus
5Slemish Integrated College — Major Works
6St Malachy's Primary School — New Build
7Enniskillen Royal Grammar School
8St Malachy's College
9Priory Integrated College
10Glenwood Primary School — Refurbishment & Exte…
11Abbey Community College — New Build
12Ardnashee School and College — New SEN Campus
13Kilronan Special School — Extension
14Bangor Central Integrated Primary — New Build
15Causeway Academy — Three-Campus Merger
16Carrickfergus Academy — New Build
17Loreto College — New Build
18Dromore High School — New Build
19Edmund Rice College — New Build
20Portadown College — New Build
21Mercy College — New Build
22Malone Integrated College — New Build
23Belfast High School — New Build
24Ballyclare High School — New Build
25St Brigid's College — New Build
26Lurgan College — School Enhancement
27Greenhaw Primary School — Enhancement
28Antrim Primary School — Enhancement
29Fairview Primary School — Enhancement
30Ballyclare Primary School — Enhancement
31Chapel Road Primary School — Enhancement
32Our Lady of Lourdes Primary — Enhancement
33St Bride's Primary School — Enhancement
34St Mary's Primary School — Enhancement
35Crawfordsburn Primary School — New Build
36Edendork Primary School — New Build
37Mary Queen of Peace Primary — New Build
38Millennium Integrated Primary — New Build
39Scoil an Droichid — New Build
40St Kevin's College — Enhancement
Click a pin to view scheme detail ⌄