A new victims' umbrella group calling itself Northern Ireland Terrorist Victims Together (NITVT), which will combine the activities of 11 victims' groups from all over the North, has been launched in Belfast.
The launch took place yesterday at the city's La Mon House Hotel, the scene of an IRA bomb attack which killed 12 people in 1978.
Dr Hazlett Lynch, a spokesman for the executive council of the new group, insisted that NITVT would remain "non-political". "NITVT will not be aligned to any religious body in its agenda and it will be non-sectarian in its practice," he added.
Outlining NITVT's goals, Dr Lynch said the group would ensure innocent victims were "not forgotten". "We want to provide the innocent victims of paramilitary terrorism with the understanding, empathy, support and assistance they need to come to terms with their colossal loss and we will campaign on their behalf for the tangible recognition of their suffering."
A spokesman for one of the member groups, FAIR - Families Acting for Innocent Relatives - denied the new group was mainly representing victims of republican violence. "We acknowledge that the nationalist community has suffered, too, and we would never turn away any of their support groups if they wanted to join us," he said.
Mr Peter Weir, an anti-agreement Ulster Unionist Assembly member for North Down, has pledged his support for NITVT.