Geraldine Finucane has branded a request by the Northern Ireland Secretary of State for more time to provide the British government's response to a recent Court of Appeal judgement as "another frustrating delay."
On July 11, Lord Justice Horner gave the British government three weeks to agree with the family of Pat Finucane a human rights compliant investigation into the solicitor’s 1989 murder.
Mr. Finucane was shot dead by a UDA gang at his North Belfast home in front of his family. Subsequent official reports concluded that there was collusion between loyalists and the British state, for which former Prime Minister David Cameron apologised on behalf of the British government.
For years the Finucane family have campaigned for a public inquiry into the murder. In 2019 the UK Supreme Court found that earlier investigations had failed to meet standards required of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights – which is the right to life protected by law.
During a meeting with the new North Secretary of State Hilary Benn, Geraldine Finucane told him that only a "full independent inquiry" is capable of uncovering the truth behind her husband Pat's murder.
Speaking after this latest development, she said: “The request by the UK Government for further time to consider their position regarding the outstanding inquiry into the murder of my husband is another frustrating delay.
“My family and I have had to tolerate many delays over the course of the last 35 years and all of them were frustrating. However, this is a serious matter that requires careful deliberation.
“If the UK Government needs further time to come to a considered decision, then I will not object to a reasonable period being allowed for this to happen. However, my position remains that a statutory Public Inquiry is the only mechanism capable of exposing the truth behind my husband’s murder.
“My family and I do not accept that processes without statutory powers of compulsion, such as ICRIR, are capable of achieving the required outcome in this case.”
