ANALYSIS:AT FIRST glance it seems that those who cannot or will not tolerate the truth of the killing of Pat Finucane being made public are off the hook.
The exchange of letters between the family of the murdered solicitor and the British government shows that the state is willing to cite the Finucanes' opposition to an inquiry held under specially drafted legislation as the cause for the impasse.
That legislation, the 2005 Inquiries Act, allows the British government to control the public flow of information from an inquiry into the Finucane murder nearly 20 years ago.
The family says that falls short of the levels of openness, independence and natural justice required. The Northern Secretary, like his cabinet colleagues past and present, disagrees. As long as there is no resolution of this there will be no inquiry.
That the government would want to keep under wraps the truth about the extent of state collusion with loyalist paramilitaries should come as little surprise - there have been plenty of precedents. John Stalker and John Stevens, rather like Nuala O'Loan and Justice Barron, have found that the search for uncomfortable truth is far from straightforward.
Now Justice Peter Cory knows it too, although it surely comes as little surprise.
During a visit to Belfast two years ago, he said of British plans to conduct a Finucane inquiry under different rules: "If you told me at the beginning no matter what you do we are going to change the rules, then any self-respecting person would say thank you and I'd just as soon not.
"This is Mickey Mouse, it's Alice in Wonderland," he said. "But you don't know that at the time."
What the Finucanes can do now depends on who is prepared to stick their neck out to help.
Confirmed support from Bertie Ahern and his government will surely continue under Brian Cowen. But in this case, a resolution from the US House of Representatives, has not dented British resolve to do things their way.
There is no lack of legal talent on the Finucanes' side, as the addition of the services of Michael Mansfield earlier this year underlines.
However, it could be that resolution in this case and in hundreds of others will only come through a more all-embracing move to deal conclusively with the legacy of the Troubles. Inquiries into Bloody Sunday, the Nelson, Hamill and Wright murders are proceeding. So far they have taken years and cost many millions, with no guarantee of providing truth, justice or closure for those most closely affected.
A similar fate could await the Finucanes.