Mrs Daphne Trimble, wife of the Ulster Unionist party leader Mr David Trimble, and Mrs Pat Hume, wife of former SDLP leader Mr John Hume, spoke about the care of victims of the "Troubles" at the annual citizenship service in Dublin yesterday.
Among the congregation at Christ Church Cathedral were the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern; the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Dermot Lacey; members of the diplomatic corps; the Government chief whip, Ms Mary Hanafin; the Labour party deputy leader, Ms Liz McManus; and the former Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Donald Caird. Archbishop John Neill gave the homily.
Mrs Trimble said that in the aftermath of the Belfast Agreement, the voice of victims was starting to be heard.
There was talk of setting-up a charitable foundation to help such people after the Belfast Agreement, she recalled. "Pat and I talked it over and we felt that this was something that the two of us, together, could help with."
They have been involved with the Northern Ireland Memorial Fund since its foundation almost three years ago, she said. An independent charitable fund, it receives core funding from the British and Irish governments, and raises further funds.
Mrs Hume pointed out that of the 3,700 people killed in the North since 1969 "nine out of every 10 were men, and three-quarters of those men were under the age of 40". During the same period, "40,000 were maimed or injured".
The fund allowed for the bereaved and injured to have short "respite" holidays and provided electric wheelchairs for those maimed in bomb attacks. It also ensured specialist treatment was available to those in chronic pain. The fund has helped more than 5,000 people, Mrs Hume said.
