The money is for health and education in deprived Protestant areas

The lower Newtownards Road, the lower Shankill, Crumlin Road and the Oldpark areas are expected to receive a share of between �25-35m in government money.

DUP North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds said it "must be used as a platform upon which we can build for the future".

But the UUP's Michael McGimpsey said the money was "a drop in the ocean".

The announcement is to be made by Social Development Minister David Hanson on Tuesday.

BBC Northern Ireland home affairs correspondent Vincent Kearney said unionist politicians have told the government that Protestant working class areas have "missed out" on any peace dividend from the Good Friday Agreement.

"Those claims reached a crescendo last September when violence erupted in a number of loyalist areas after the re-routing of the Whiterock Orange parade in West Belfast," he said.

'Deprivation'

"Unionist politicians said the violence was not simply a response to that decision - but a sign that loyalists felt marginalised and ignored.

"The government insists that this package is not a direct response to that violence, but part of a longer term strategy."

Speaking ahead of the announcement, Mr Dodds said that in the past, "those in positions of authority have turned a blind eye to what are often dire levels of deprivation".

"The significance lies in the fact that there is at long last an acceptance that there are real and lasting problems in unionist parts of Northern Ireland," he said.

'Unfit housing'

However, Mr McGimpsey, a South Belfast assembly member, said recent budget cuts in the Belfast Education and Library Board was evidence of a "topsy-turvy approach in tackling one of the biggest problems affecting loyalist areas".

He added: "In the Village area of south Belfast, there are 1,300 unfit houses.

"The costs to redevelop this area has been calculated at �180m alone - �30m would not begin to deal with the levels of neglect that have been allowed to develop in these areas."

Pastor Paul Burns from Sandy Row in south Belfast said the money must be channelled properly.

"They are going to need to take the people forward, and they are going to need an awful lot of help, an awful lot of technical assistance," he said.

Baroness May Blood, who has been involved in cross-community and trade union work for more than 40 years, said it was important that the money was used to support existing programmes on a long-term basis.

She said it should also address skills training in loyalist areas.

"We have children in this area which the education system has failed... we have to start as soon as possible and build up that love and interest in education," she said.