Ahern calls for full inquiry into murder of Finucane

The Government is concerned about the British government's failure to have a full inquiry into the murder of Northern solicitor…

The Government is concerned about the British government's failure to have a full inquiry into the murder of Northern solicitor Pat Finucane, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said.

"That failure is a matter of concern to the Government, the parties in this House and the wider community. We will continue to address these issues with the British government."

Mr Ahern said that he had met members of the Finucane family, adding he was aware that Ken Barrett, who had been jailed in 2004 for the murder of Pat Finucane, had been freed under the terms of the Belfast Agreement.

"This has obviously been a very difficult development, but it is clearly not the end of this issue for the Finucane family, who remain focused on securing a full public inquiry.

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"The family continues to have our full support in this. We have made it clear that we want to see adherence to the standard agreed at Weston Park and set by Judge Cory.

"We continue to share the concerns of the Finucane family and Judge Cory that the new Inquiries Act, under which the British government intends to have the Finucane case investigated, will not meet these standards. We continue to raise these issues with the British government," the Taoiseach said.

Green Party leader Trevor Sargent said there was a need for a credible independent inquiry.

Mr Ahern said that the US House of Representatives had passed a resolution calling on the British government to establish immediately a fully independent public judicial inquiry into Mr Finucane's murder and the Irish Government had played its role in that.

"The Finucane family is pressing for a senate resolution [in the US] mirroring the recent congressional motion which was passed and has written to every senator to lobby for support. We support the family and wish it well on that initiative."

Michael O'Regan

Michael O'Regan

Michael O’Regan is a former parliamentary correspondent of The Irish Times