Pat Finucane public inquiry 'a watershed moment' for legacy in Northern Ireland

Geraldine Finucane said she believed the public inquiry into her husband's murder could be a “watershed moment” in dealing with legacy cases.

The UK Government has ordered a public inquiry into the collusion-linked loyalist paramilitary murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane in 1989.Mr Finucane, 39, was shot dead at his family home in north Belfast in February 1989 by the Ulster Defence Association in an attack found by a series of probes to have involved collusion with the state.

His widow Geraldine and the couple’s three children have been campaigning for decades for a public inquiry to establish the extent of security force involvement.Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn made the announcement to the House of Commons.The minister said it is a “plain fact” that a UK government commitment made more than 20 years ago to hold an inquiry into Mr Finucane’s murder “remains unfulfilled”.“It is for this exceptional reason that I have decided to establish an independent inquiry into the death of Patrick Finucane under the 2005 Inquiries Act,” he said.

Geraldine Finucane welcomed the announcement.

Mrs Finucane said: “After 35 years of campaigning for such an inquiry, I believe this announcement represents a significant step forward for my family in our fight to uncover all of the circumstances behind Pat’s murder.“It has been a long journey to get to the point where the establishment of an independent public inquiry has finally become a reality.“I look forward to having the opportunity to participate in a statutory inquiry and expose publicly the whole truth behind the murder of my husband.“This has always been the objective of the campaign that my family and I have pursued for the last 35 years.

“We have only ever been concerned with uncovering the truth.“It is this that has kept us going. It is the thing that has been missing, all these years.”

Mrs Finucane said her family did not believe the murder of her husband was “simply the work of gunmen who killed him”She said: “We had no confidence that police investigations would ever bring those truly responsible to justice.“We were not satisfied with private, limited reviews from which we were excluded.“We could not and did not accept the assurances of previous British governments that they were anxious to set the record straight, because they were never prepared to do so in public.“An independent, statutory public inquiry is and was the only way to bring the whole truth behind the murder of Pat Finucane into the light of day.”

She said: said she believed the public inquiry could a “watershed moment” in dealing with legacy cases.She said: “If a public inquiry in to the murder of Pat Finucane can finally publicly examine all of the collusion that plagued our society for so many years, then there is hope that the real process of healing can begin.“The murder of Pat Finucane is the last remaining Weston Park case.“It is high time it was properly investigated, publicly examined, and finally resolved.“I believe that my family deserve this after so many years.“Pat Finucane deserves this after so many years.“Society as a whole deserves this, after so many years. After 35 years of cover-ups, it is time for truth.”

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