The DUP leader, Dr Ian Paisley, has called for additional compensation for victims of the earlier period of the Troubles, claiming that what they received from the British government was "miserable".
Dr Paisley urged a review of the compensation at Stormont yesterday when a £350,000 special programme designed to assist victims of violence in the Castlereagh area of Belfast was announced.
Run by the Castlereagh Partnership for Peace and Reconciliation, the programme will provide support services and counselling for victims of paramilitary, criminal and domestic violence.
Funding is provided by the European Union peace programme. Dr Paisley, welcomed the new initiative but complained that unionist communities had not received as much as nationalists from the fund. He urged a review of how victims of the Troubles in the 1970s and 1980s were paid, saying he knew of one family in his North Antrim constituency who received only £300 for a relative who was killed at the start of the conflict.
The North's Minister for Victims, Mr Adam Ingram, said the initiative was an example for others to follow. He told the audience: "I can assure you that the government will continue to work hard to put in place measures to support those who have suffered and their families."
Mr Tommy Jeffers, chairman of the Castlereagh reconciliation group, said the most vulnerable people in society must be targeted for support. People who often were reluctant to report attacks included gays, lesbians, ethnic minorities and children.
Sir Kenneth Bloomfield, the Victims' Commissioner, described the initiative as a "massive step in the right direction". Meeting the needs of victims required "a grand coalition of caring from central government, local authorities, public bodies of every sort, the stalwarts of the voluntary sector, political parties, churches; indeed every single one of us".
