Finucane family threaten inquiry boycott
The family of murdered Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane today threatened to boycott an inquiry into his death after meeting Tony Blair.
Mr Finucane’s relatives have long campaigned for an inquiry into possible security service involvement in his death.
However, his widow Geraldine and son Michael insist it must be a full public investigation with international panel members.
The British Prime Minister has said an inquiry would be as open as possible given national security consideration.
After meeting Mr Blair in Downing Street today, Michael Finucane said that while the Prime Minister was sympathetic he had not put their concerns to rest.
“Ultimately if the inquiry is not satisfactory even after all the hard work we have had to put in then we may have to withdraw and we may have to refuse to co-operate,” he said.
“I think that would be an extremely unfortunate decision to have to make and very much hope that we do not have to take that decision. But we had to leave the Prime Minister in no doubt that if we are put to the sword we will walk away.”
The family will wait to see what is in legislation on public inquiries which the British government will publish shortly, he added.
Mrs Finucane said Mr Blair realised ``this has been a very difficult road for us''.
“But the disturbing thing was that he did not give us very many answers to the questions we had to ask him,” she continued.
“We think we are entitled to a public inquiry with an international aspect to it, an inquiry that will get to the truth of this matter and which will bring closure for us. Closure is something that we want but we will not accept it at any price.”
Mrs Finucane added: “If we are given something substandard of course we will walk away.”
Her husband was gunned down in front of the family in his north Belfast home by the Ulster Freedom Fighters in February 1989.
His relatives, human rights groups and nationalist politicians have long believed he was the victim of a policy of collusion between members of the security forces in Northern Ireland and the loyalist gang that killed him.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens concluded in an investigation that Mr Finucane and student Adam Lambert were victims of collusion.
The case for an inquiry was further strengthened when retired Canadian judge Peter Cory recommended to the Government that there should be one.
Judge Cory was appointed by the British and Irish governments after the 2001 Weston Park talks to examine the cases for inquiries into six controversial killings.
In September loyalist Ken Barrett, 41, receive a life sentence after admitting his role in Mr Finucane’s murder.
He is expected to be released early under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
After his conviction, Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy announced that an inquiry would be held.
Tony Blair’s official spokesman said today: “We have set out that we want the inquiry in keeping with the recommendations that it should be as public as is possible, but there are national security considerations and we must consider those.”
The SDLP’s Alex Attwood, who will brief MPs in London tomorrow about the need for a public inquiry, said the meeting had only confirmed his party’s worst fears.
He said: “It shows that the government is trying to weaken any inquiry by forcing it to take much of its evidence in private. That means undermining the inquiry’s independence and it means taking away the public’s chance to hear the whole truth.
“The government proposal to bring forward new legislation on inquiries is not just worrying for the Finucane case, but for all cases. In fact, it is about ending public inquiries as we know them.
“Had these powers been in place, we would probably never have seen all the Downing Street correspondence on Iraq in the Hutton Inquiry.
“This attempt by the government to muzzle the truth shows New Labour control freakery at its worst. Indeed, the government’s approach is almost Stalinist in trying to stop the truth coming to light.”
