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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| £2m care service for ex-soldiers | £2m care service for ex-soldiers |
| (about 13 hours later) | |
| More than 60,000 ex-members of the UDR and Royal Irish Regiment are to benefit from a £2m a year service to help them deal with the legacy of the Troubles. | More than 60,000 ex-members of the UDR and Royal Irish Regiment are to benefit from a £2m a year service to help them deal with the legacy of the Troubles. |
| There will also be re-training available for about 2,000 soldiers made redundant earlier this year. | There will also be re-training available for about 2,000 soldiers made redundant earlier this year. |
| The government promised funding for the care service in a resettlement package after the RIR home service battalions were disbanded in the summer. | The government promised funding for the care service in a resettlement package after the RIR home service battalions were disbanded in the summer. |
| Its aim is to help former soldiers adjust to civilian life. | Its aim is to help former soldiers adjust to civilian life. |
| There will be advice on how to qualify for welfare and benevolent support, job training and access to medical care. | There will be advice on how to qualify for welfare and benevolent support, job training and access to medical care. |
| The service will be based at Palace Barracks in Holywood, and 12 of its 25 staff will be located at TA centres in Coleraine, Enniskillen and Portadown. | The service will be based at Palace Barracks in Holywood, and 12 of its 25 staff will be located at TA centres in Coleraine, Enniskillen and Portadown. |
| 'Significant trauma' | |
| Colonel Mark Campbell, the last commanding officer of the home service battalions, said the service would help acknowledge the debt owed by the community to those who served in the UDR and the Royal Irish. | Colonel Mark Campbell, the last commanding officer of the home service battalions, said the service would help acknowledge the debt owed by the community to those who served in the UDR and the Royal Irish. |
| "The pressures upon our people were intense and this was 24/7 exposure. Our soldiers and their families were in fact at greater risk off duty than they were on," he said. | |
| "The fact that they were at greater risk off duty really brought their families into the front line as well. | |
| "So, there is significant trauma, there's significant hurt done and we believe that this service that we are launching today is an essential component in enabling our people to help deal with the legacy of the past." | |
| Howard Brooker was based at Grosvenor Barracks in Enniskillen for 25 of his 31 years as a soldier with the UDR and then the Royal Irish home service. | |
| "This carries on what the battalions have been doing for the soldiers for many years now; looking after the needs of the widows and the soldiers, their welfare, their medical needs and so on. It is absolutely vital." | |
| During the Troubles, 271 locally recruited soldiers were murdered, and more than 600 were left physically disabled. |