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The cost of establishing a large-scale mortuary facility inside a County Down Army base is £4m, the Department of Justice has told Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú News NI.

Situated at Kinnegar in Holywood, it has yet to be used, but if required could operate at 24 hours notice.

It will be kept on stand-by for any future wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It was set up in March when it was feared the outbreak would overwhelm hospital morgues and create a backlog of funerals.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) would run it and it would be manned 24-7.

The project involved a private contractor converting buildings the Army uses to store vehicles.

The Ministry of Defence is not charging the Department of Justice for use of the site.

Justice Minister Naomi Long said: "When I watched the news and saw mass graves in New York, I have no regrets at the investment we made in this facility.

"Impressive as it is, it is also very sobering to stand in it, to see the scale of what we were planning for.

"I hope it is something we never have to use."

The department refers to the facility as the Northern Ireland Temporary Resting Place.

Mrs Long said it was "possibly the best morgue facility in these islands".

Her department is leasing the part of the 54-acre site from the Ministry of Defence which plans to sell the base, which has little or no operational role, in 2022.