Finucane family wins Government backing

THE Government last night promised the family of murdered Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane it would not move one iota from its support for a full independent inquiry into his killing.

Foreign affairs minister Dermot Ahern met the widow and son of Mr Finucane at Government Buildings for the first time in Dublin yesterday.

He said he would continue the government’s campaign to have an independent inquiry into the brutal murder of the solicitor in 1989 by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA).

“We will endeavour to articulate to the British government the need to have as full an inquiry as possible, not moving one iota in relation to our principled stand for a full, independent inquiry,” he said.

He spoke with Geraldine Finucane, her solicitor, Peter Madden, and her son, John, for more than an hour following previous meetings held with them by the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

The family and Mr Justice Peter Corry, the retired Canadian supreme court judge who recommended holding an inquiry into the murder, have all rejected the terms proposed by the British government.

“It has been a difficult path to where we are today and I think the family are under no illusions that it’s going to continue to be difficult, given the fact that the legislation has been passed in the British parliament changing the 1921 legislation,” said Mr Ahern.

The Finucane family insisted it would not co-operate unless all evidence is heard in public. The family believes that the restrictions would hinder the independence of the inquiry, damaging its effectiveness and openness.

“The difficulty is that the control of the inquiry does not lie with the panel of judges. The control lies with the government and, in this case, it is the government that are under scrutiny and therefore that removes the independence of the tribunal,” said Geraldine Finucane.

She said a challenge to the British government approach in the European Court of Human Rights had not been ruled out.