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28 April 2002 Compo Deal for Terrorism Relatives —from Ireland on Sunday Hundreds of people living in the Republic, who were either injured or lost relatives in the Troubles, will be eligible to claim compensation under a long-awaited Government initiative that could cost up to 410m. As well as the compensation payments, a memorial is to be erected near the border for victims of the Troubles and an annual day of commemoration marked throughout the entire island. The plans, which have already been rubber-stamped by the Cabinet, are expected to be announced within the next two weeks in a keynote Fianna Fáil election statement on the North, Ireland on Sunday can reveal.  As part of the package, the party will promise to put pressure on the British government to secure an amnesty for IRA members and other paramilitaries who are still on the run in the Republic for offences committed in Britain and the North. Breakthrough Sinn Féin has been pressing unsuccessfully for an amnesty of this kind for some time and any breakthrough would strengthen party leader Gerry Adams's hand in facing down growing grassroots IRA opposition to the peace process. Both the compensation payments and the amnesty were proposed in a report drawn up for the Government by former tánaiste John Wilson in 1999. Families who had to flee the North over the past 30 years may also be eligible for compensation. But all applicants will have to prove to the trustees of a special government fund, that they are in fact legitimate victims of the Troubles. One-off payments of up to 412,000 could be made from the new Victims' Trust. Some victims may also be eligible for pensions similar to those granted to relatives of Defence Force members who die while on duty. Government sources said it was impossible to state exactly how many victims would ultimately qualify for compensation but that the figure would "run into hundreds rather than thousands". About 100 relatives of the 33 people killed in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974 are expected to qualify. Only a handful of other people have died in the South in terrorist incidents over the past 30 years but also eligible would be many people who relocated to the Republic at the height of the Troubles, as a direct result of violence in the North. It is estimated that there may be between 800 and 900 in this group. The initiative has already been approved by Cabinet. As well as the compensation payments, a memorial is to be erected near the border for victims of the Troubles and an annual day of commemoration marked throughout the entire island. Plans are afoot to found a memorial building, likely to be sited in Belfast. "I have been pressing for this for the last three years," Mr Wilson said. "No matter who ends up in the next government, it will be held to these commitments." So far, only one of Mr Wilson's recommendations has been implemented, with the setting up of the inquiry into the Dublin-Monaghan bombings.The new move also includes specific measures such as the handing over of the Crowley report into the death of Aidan McAnespie in 1988 to his relatives. Mr McAnespie was shot dead at a British Army checkpoint in Aughnacloy, while travelling to a GAA match See Also: The 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings Army 'Link' to Dublin Bombings  Compo Deal for Terrorism Relatives Irish Bombing Probe "Sovereign Immunity" Defence Planned If British Government Sued Spies to Tell of Republic Forays Page updated 30 Mar 2008 Ireland's OWN Logo by Eamann Website Design and Celtic Background by Míchealín Daugherty Copyright © 2008 Ireland's OWN All Rights Reserved.