Climbdown on Irish volunteers at D-Day event

IRISH volunteers who served with the British army during the Second World War will be included in commemorations for the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings in France this summer.

In a surprise U-turn, Scotland on Sunday has learnt the British government has now agreed to pay for former soldiers from Ireland and their families to travel to Normandy in June to remember the events of 1944.

The announcement comes just days after the junior defence minister, Ivor Caplin, told parliament that under no circumstances could any Irish citizen partake in the 10m Heroes Return scheme.

The programme, funded by the lottery, is designed to allow British veterans and war widows to travel back to former battle sites to commemorate their part in the war. About 50,000 Irish fought for the British army during World War II, three of whom were awarded Victoria Crosses.

However, Caplin insisted last week that no foreigner was entitled to benefit from lottery generated funds, a viewpoint Labour MP Andrew Mackinlay described as "outrageous and ignorant".

"Winston Churchill made special reference to Irish soldiers’ contribution to the war effort in his VE day speech," said Mackinlay. "The decision to exclude them from this scheme in the first place was bureaucratic, narrow and unacceptable."

Under pressure from ex-servicemen’s organisations and following inquiries from the British Embassy in Dublin, the organisation which distributes lottery funds says Irish servicemen will be included in the scheme.

"We recognise that Second World War veterans who live in the Republic of Ireland made a significant contribution to the war effort. We intend to work closely with Royal British Legion to develop a successful partnership approach to ensure that veterans in the Republic of Ireland also benefit from this programme," said spokeswoman Amanda Doherty.

There are just under 1,000 British war pensioners and widows in the Republic. The British Volunteers Agency in Dublin had been receiving a steady trickle of calls from veterans anxious to attend the commemorations in June.