Minister Dermot Ahern has described the decision to cut funding to a victim support group as “difficult”.
Justice for the Forgotten, a group which represents victims of the Troubles, said yesterday that it would have to close down within a month due to funding cuts.
Minister Ahern said the government could now not give it any more financial assistance, but had provided funding for the group since it was set up.
Labour TD Joe Costello criticised the government’s failure to provide funding for the group as “reneging on its obligations under the Good Friday Agreement.”
Under the Declaration of Support at the start of the Agreement, the governments of Britain and of Ireland agreed to: “never forget those who have died or been injured, and their families.”
The group was set up in 1996, and is the main liaison between victims and their families, and inquiries into violence that operate in the North, and with garda investigations.
It says it is at a disadvantage regarding funding due to its location because similar groups in the North are being supported by British, EU and US funding.
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