[caption id="attachment_67467" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Rep. Chris Smith."]
Irish American reaction to the refusal of the British government to hold a full public inquiry into the 1989 murder of Belfast attorney Pat Finucane has been strongly critical
In a statement, the congressional Ad Hoc Committee on Irish Affairs expressed nothing short of outrage.
"We cannot but feel a deep sense of outrage over the decision of the British government not to launch a full, independent, and public judicial inquiry into the murder of Patrick Finucane.
Ever since Patrick Finucane was gunned down in his home in 1989, his widow Geraldine Finucane and his children have only sought accountability, which would do much to help heal the wounds of conflict in Northern Ireland as a whole," said the committee in its statement.
The statement was issued by co-chairs Reps. Christ Smith, Eliot Engel and Joseph Crowley, along with Rep. Richard Neal, the former chairman and ranking member of the Friends of Ireland.
Fr. Sean McManus of the Washington, D.C.-based Irish National Caucus also registered his unease.
"It would be a mistake to think that British prime minister, David Cameron, was just being gratuitously cruel in his treatment of the Finucane family.
"He had raised hope he would allow a public inquiry into the state-assassination of Pat Finucane in 1989. He even invited the Finucane family to 10 Downing Street on Tuesday, October 11 to announce his decision to them, only to tell them that there would be no public inquiry," said McManus.
"Why would he do that? Because at the last moment, the spooks - those who really run all things to do with Ireland - told him to back off, that a public inquiry would expose to the world that the British government, at the highest political, military and security level, ordered and facilitated the assassination, that it was just the tip of the iceberg, and that it would be shown that state-assassination and collusion were an enduring, fundamental and systematic policy of the British government in Ireland.
"There is no other possible explanation because I am sure David Cameron is not personally a sadistic person. And that is why the U.S. Congress, now more than ever before, must stay focused on Northern Ireland," said McManus.
New York-based journalist and author Ed Moloney, pointed to the apparent disparity between London's desire to open the lid on the Boston College Troubles archives, of which he was a primary compiler, and the intent to keep the lid closed with regard to the Finucane case.
"Let us be clear about what has happened here. The British government has reneged on a solemn promise to fully investigate the assassination of Pat Finucane, one of the most glaring examples of security force collusion with loyalist paramilitaries during the troubles," said Moloney.
And he added: "That the RUC and British intelligence co-operated with the UDA in removing a skilled legal opponent and to send a warning message to the wider legal community in Northern Ireland is now widely accepted by all who have examined the facts of the case.
"It is clearly the fear that these dirty deeds will be fully exposed that has led to Cameron's shameful u-turn. What has happened is nothing short of a disgrace and a scandal. The fact that the U.S. government is now co-operating with the same authorities to raid and pillage the files of Boston College in pursuit of a 40-year old crime about which they cared nothing until recently is something that should deeply concern and trouble all U.S. citizens, especially those of an Irish heritage.
I appeal to (attorney general) Eric Holder and the Obama White House to immediately withdraw their subpoenas against BC to demonstrate American disapproval of David Cameron's broken promise to the Finucane family and to signal their distaste at the one-sided nature of the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland."
