A £2m fund for relatives of victims of the Troubles has been set up by the Irish Government.

The money will be allocated to people in the Irish Republic.

The fund is one of the Irish Government's obligations under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

Among those expected to benefit are relatives of the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings and the Dublin and Dundalk bombings in 1972.

The money will be distributed through a Remembrance Fund Commission which is due to be established on a statutory basis shortly.

The Justice for the Forgotten group, which represents relatives of those killed in Dublin and Monaghan, welcomed the fund.

Margaret Urwin of the group said she was delighted by the news.

Pressure

"We have fought for this for three and a half years and we have lobbied politicians across all the parties," she said.

"Reams and reams of paper have gone between our group and the Department for Justice. We have really kept the pressure on.

"Certainly we are welcoming it, we are really delighted about it."

The three car bombs which detonated in Dublin and Monaghan on 17 May 1974 caused the biggest loss of life on a single day in the course of the Troubles.

Two bombs exploded in Dublin, killing 26 people including a pregnant woman.

Ninety minutes later another exploded in the border town of Monaghan killing seven people. Over 200 people were injured.