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Date Posted: 18:35:30 01/23/09 Fri GMT
Author: Lynn
Subject: Troubles payout plan sparks anger (Press Association)



Troubles payout plan sparks anger
Press Association
4 hours ago
A plan to give £12,000 to the family of each person killed in the Northern Ireland Troubles - including dead IRA members and loyalists - has been condemned by unionist politicians.
The proposal, costing £40 million, is one of a raft of measures an advisory group believes could help deal with the legacy of violence.
Their ambitious blueprint - set to cost a total of £210 million - includes plans for a "Legacy Commission" to bring closure to all the unsolved murders of the Troubles in a five year period.
But unionist politicians reacted angrily to the proposal for a one-off payment for relatives of the more than 3,000 victims, regardless of the role their loved one played in the Troubles.
It is understood the Consultative Group On The Past, led by former Church of Ireland Primate Lord Robin Eames and former Northern Ireland police board vice chair Denis Bradley, wanted to end the so-called "hierarchy of victims" in the belief that the pain of all those bereaved is equal.
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Peter Robinson said: "I think people in Northern Ireland who have gone through decades of violence will be very hurt indeed at any proposal which allows people who have been engaged in the most heinous acts in society being put on a level playing field with those who have been victims of those horrendous events."
He said any plan to deal with the past must have the needs of innocent victims and the maintenance of justice at its core. He added: "However, the reported proposals do not represent an approach which would be in any way acceptable to the Democratic Unionist Party and the people we represent."
The payment scheme is based on a funding programme already introduced in the Republic of Ireland where victims received 15,000 euro, which at the time the new proposal was drafted equated to approximately £12,000. It is understood the Eames/Bradley plan would include all those who died as a result of the Northern Ireland conflict, whether they were killed in Ireland, Britain or overseas.
The Eames/Bradley group declined to comment on their report and asked for the public to wait until the full set of proposals were released on Wednesday before drawing conclusions.
A spokesman for the Northern Ireland Office said the Government would want to take time to consider the group's proposals contained in the report which is due to be published next week.

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