PREPARATIONS FOR an independent inquiry into the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane have ceased, the Northern Ireland Office has told the Finucane family. The NIO has cited the family's opposition to the terms for the proposed inquiry as the obstacle. The family has now said it doubts if an inquiry will ever be held. DAN KEENAN, Northern News Editor, reports.
A letter addressed to Geraldine Finucane's solicitors and signed by Northern Secretary Shaun Woodward's principal private secretary earlier this month made clear that that preparatory work was stopped last year. According to the NIO, this was because the family would not co-operate with the holding of an inquiry under the controversial Inquiries Act, which empowers the British government to withhold information and any findings from the public domain on grounds of national security.
Mrs Finucane, whose husband was shot dead in February 1989 by loyalists acting in collusion with British state agencies, has pressed for an inquiry to be held under existing less restrictive legislation, arguing that a tribunal under the Inquiries Act would not be sufficiently independent of government. She will discuss the matter today with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern at Government Buildings.
In a statement released overnight, Mrs Finucane publicly doubted if an independent public inquiry would ever be held.
"On April 7th, 2008, my solicitor received a letter from the Northern Ireland Office which stated that, 18 months ago, in the autumn of 2006, a decision was taken by the then secretary of state, Peter Hain, to cease all preparations for an inquiry. We were not informed of this decision at the time," Mrs Finucane alleged.
"This letter stated that the decision was taken because my family refused to accept ministerial control of an inquiry under the notorious Inquiries Act 2005. They appear to be saying that, unless we agree that British government minister should be allowed to control what information the inquiry is permitted to examine in public, there will be no inquiry at all.
"Two British secretaries of state and the current prime minister have been in ongoing correspondence with me and my solicitor since early 2006, yet it is only now that they have revealed their decision. My solicitor has written back, demanding to know whether they plan to hold an inquiry or not." Copies of letters sent by the NIO have been seen by The Irish Times.
She has accused the British government of misleading the people of Ireland and of wishing to hold a type of inquiry that British ministers can control "from behind the scenes". Her solicitors have responded to the NIO letter seeking clarification and pledging full co-operation in any inquiry as long as it is "independent, impartial, international and public".
They continue to insist that "no minister [ should] seek to exercise the power to issue Restriction Notices under the 2005 Inquiries Act". An inquiry into the Finucane murder was called for by Justice Peter Cory, a former Canadian Supreme Court judge, four years ago. He was called in by the British and Irish governments in 2001 to investigate a series of controversial cases on both sides of the Border in which collusion was suspected or alleged. In all six he recommended inquiries.
Peter Madden, representing the Finucanes, has written to Mr Woodward claiming that "no reasonable explanation has been provided as to why it is considered possible to conduct the Rosemary Nelson inquiry, which also covers issues of the alleged involvement of members of the British Army and Secret Intelligence Services, while it was claimed that new legislation had to be enacted before a Pat Finucane inquiry could be established".