Finucanes still hope for Paisley inquiry support
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader failed to give a firm commitment, but it was the first time he met the family since the 1989 murder.
The family has rejected a planned probe under the terms of the new Inquiries Act, which allows a government minister to withhold information from the public on grounds of national security
Widow Geraldine Finucane said: “We had a very good meeting with Dr Paisley. It was very open and he made it very clear that he was there to hear what we had to say.
“Indeed we discovered by the end of the hour-long meeting that we had a lot in common.”
Ms Finucane declined to say whether the DUP leader was ready to back her campaign against the British government, and said he would be making no comment himself at the moment. However, Ms Finucane, who met political and Church leaders in Belfast, London and Dublin in recent weeks, said: “I certainly would not be having a meeting with anyone unless I thought they could help”.
The Stormont meeting took place the day after the 17th anniversary of the murder of Mr Finucane, shot dead in front of his family by loyalist gunmen in his north Belfast home.
The Finucane family, and many human rights campaigners, believe the controversial Inquiries Act, rushed through parliament last year, gave the British Government powers to withhold sensitive information and to censor a final inquiry report before publication.
Ms Finucane and her sons Michael and John have told government they will not co-operate with the inquiry - for which they have long campaigned - if it was set up under the terms of the Inquiries Act.
Northern Secretary Peter Hain told them recently it was an inquiry under the Act or nothing.
Despite this, the family pledged to continue the campaign for an inquiry they say would be more likely to uncover the truth.
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