THE Prime Minister has pledged millions of pounds to help the victims of terrorist violence in Northern Ireland after hearing tragic first-hand accounts in Belfast on Wednesday, writes Catherine MacLeod, Chief Political Correspondent.
Ms Mary McNeice, of the victims support group Wave, said: ''Even more than the financial help we will be getting, I think the acknowledgement that victims are important is certainly something else.''
Mr Blair called in Chancellor Gordon Brown and Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam yesterday morning to find cash for the victims.
A Downing Street spokesman confirmed Mr Blair was deeply struck by the plight of the families and thought it odd that spending on support for prisoner's families had outstripped help for victims.
Last night, Downing Street was still keeping open the door for the Orange Order to drop its opposition to the peace plan. While the Orangemen emerged from meeting Mr Blair yesterday claiming they still found parts of the deal objectionable, the Prime Minister's official spokesman confirmed Mr Blair would look at a list of their concerns.
Meanwhile, Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble condemned the hardline Unionists who continued to criticise the peace plan. He claimed they were ''cheap, misleading, and negative'', and were trying to consign Northern Ireland to another 30 years of misery.
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