MAJOR Northern Ireland trade fair, which has been held every second year since 1969, has been cancelled for the first time due to the political situation.

The fair, which had been expected to attract more than 23,000 people over five days in September, has been cancelled as a direct result of the street violence after the Drumcree march.

The cancellation will cost the organisers, WHC Industrial Promotions, up to £60,000 sterling in lost deposits.

Mr Bill Caughey, the managing director of WHC, said he was forced to cancel the five day construction and heavy machinery trade show as the company could not guarantee the safety of a giant marquee which it was hiring for the event.

Depending on the political situation, the trade fair may be rescheduled for late spring or autumn of next year.

Mr Caughey said the giant marquee was to have been transported from Britain on a number of 40 foot articulated vehicles, with construction due to start on August 10th. The marquee, which at 7,500 sq metres is twice the size of the King's Hall in Balmoral, was to have been erected at Cooke Rugby Club, at Shaw's Bridge in west Belfast.

The construction would have coincided with the anniversary of internment and the scheduled Apprentice Boys march in Derry both of which are potential flash points.

"They (the marquee's owners) wanted an assurance that there kit and their vehicles were going to be safe but no one could give us any guarantee."

About 200 companies were due to show £3 million sterling worth of equipment at the joint Building International and Allied Trades/Plantra `96 exhibitions.

Mr Caughey said that while the fair had "had its ups and downs" it had been growing dramatically in recent years. But the events around Drumcree had "taken us all back to 1969."