The widows of police officers killed by paramilitaries before 1982 and officers maimed in paramilitary attacks are to benefit from an £11 million sterling package announced by the Northern Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson, yesterday.
A lump sum of £2 million is to be divided between the widows of both full-time and reserve officers, with the remaining £9 million going into a newly established fund aimed at helping seriously injured officers and their families.
Under the scheme, widows will receive a lump sum of £1,000 for each year from their husband's death to the present. The injured officers' fund will pay out £4 million in its first year and £2.5 million in each of the following two years.
Mr Mandelson said he hoped that the provisions would go some way towards recognising the "profound debt" which society owed to the officers and their families.
The chairman of the Northern Ireland Police Federation, Mr Les Rodgers, welcomed the announcement.