Northern Ireland

Allison Morris: A long road for the Finucane family in their campaign for justice

Pat Finucane's widow Geraldine has campaigned for an inquiry into his murder for 30 years.
Pat Finucane's widow Geraldine has campaigned for an inquiry into his murder for 30 years. Pat Finucane's widow Geraldine has campaigned for an inquiry into his murder for 30 years.

THERE have been a number of investigations into the murder of prominent solicitor Pat Finucane at his home in north Belfast in 1989.

Each has uncovered new information but, all three were limited in scope.

What is known is that links between the UDA in west Belfast and both police and military intelligence services impacted on every aspect of the targetting, planning, execution and cover up of the murder of the 39-year-old.

Mr Finucane was shot 14 times by two masked gunmen in front of his wife Geraldine, who was also injured in the attack, and his three children.

Among them was his son John, now Sinn Féin MP for North Belfast.

His election last December has heaped further pressure on the British government, to grant the family's request for a public inquiry.

Mr Finucane was shot just weeks after a junior Home Office minister, Douglas Hogg, told the House of Commons that there were a number of lawyers in Northern Ireland "unduly sympathetic to the IRA".

Mr Hogg later revealed he had been receiving regular briefings from senior members of the RUC.

Following the murder, senior English police officer John Stevens was appointed to investigate claims of collusion between state forces and loyalist paramilitaries in numerous killings, including that of Pat Finucane.

That investigation lasted 14 years with two agents within the UDA identified including Brian Nelson and William Stobie.

Nelson, a former British soldier, had served with the Black Watch and worked for military intelligence, had helped provide targetting information on the solicitor. He died in April 2003.

Stobie was a Special Branch informer provided one of the guns used in the murder.

In 2001, he said he would be willing to testify at an inquiry into Mr Finucane's killing. Within weeks, he was shot dead outside his home in the loyalist Glencairn estate in Belfast.

The family continued with their campaign for an inquiry and at the Weston Park talks in 2001, the government appointed a retired Canadian Judge Peter Cory to examine the case.

A report was issued in 2004 concluding there was "strong evidence" of collusion and saying an inquiry was necessary.

However, the British government reneged on the commitment to hold a full public inquiry and in 2011 tasked Sir Desmond de Silva to hold an independent review of the case.

He was given access to documents not made available before and produced a comprehensive report presented to the Prime Minister at the time, David Cameron.

Mr Cameron apologised in the House of Commons for "frankly shocking levels of collusion" in the case.

What de Silva did not have was the power to compel witnesses.

His report concluded that police failed to protect Mr Finucane and took no action to act on threat intelligence regarding him being targeted. However the report concluded there was no "over-arching state conspiracy".

The family dismissed the exercise as a "whitewash" and continued to demand an inquiry, turning to the courts for assistance.

In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled there had never been an adequate investigation, but stopped short of ordering a public inquiry, saying it was for the state to decide.

A second judicial review aimed at forcing the government to address the Supreme Court's findings placed a deadline on a decision.

In October of this year, a lawyer for Secretary of State, Brandon Lewis, said a decision would be made before the end of November.

Political pressure from the Irish government and local political leaders has kept the campaign high on the agenda.

Despite this Mr Lewis waited until the last day of November to address the issue and meet with the Finucane family.