Finucane inquiry must be public, says son

The announcement by the Northern Ireland Office of a new inquiry into the killing of Belfast solicitor Mr Pat Finucane has been sharply criticised by Northern politicians and Mr Finucane’s family.

A poster calling for an inquiry into the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane

The SDLP and Sinn Féin have backed calls by Mr Finucane’s family for the new judicial inquiry into the solicitor’s killing to be held in public after the collapse of the case against Mr William Stobie yesterday.

Mr Stobie was charged with being an accessory to the murder of Mr Finucane, but the case against him was withdrawn when the prosecution said the evidence of its key witness, Mr Neil Mulholland, could not be relied upon.

Mr Fincane’s son, Michael, a solicitor based in Dublin, today claimed the proposal to appoint an international judge to continue the investigation should be conducted in public.

"It’s yet another stalling attempt by the British government and really yet another example of them trying to persuade ourselves [and] the very many institutions and groups including the Irish Government, who have supported our call for a full public inquiry into the matter," he said.

From the beginning, the British system and in particular the intelligence services responsible for collusion and the running of agents within the loyalist death squads have used every means available to them to prevent the truth from emerging Sinn Féin President Mr Gerry Adams

"The appointment of a judge to review the evidence surrounding the circumstances of Pat's murder will delay a public inquiry for another four to five years since it has been proposed that the judge will review the evidence of half a dozen complicated cases," a family statement said yesterday.

He told RTÉ radio the delay in bringing the case against Mr Stobie to court, and Mr Stobie's role as an RUC Special Branch informant meant the prosecution was "ill concieved from the start".

SDLP spokesman on policing Mr Alex Atwood today welcomed the decision to proceed with the police inquiry being conducted by Sir John Stevens in parallel with a judicial inquiry.

He told ireland.comthe appointment of the judge should lead to "a full independent judicial inquiry under the Tribunal Inquiries Act" to be held in public.

Sinn Féin President Mr Gerry Adams said the the collapse of the only trial in relation to the killing yesterday was "predictable".

"From the beginning, the British system and in particular the intelligence services responsible for collusion and the running of agents within the loyalist death squads have used every means available to them to prevent the truth from emerging around Pat Finucane's case and hundreds of other similar killings," Mr Adams claimed.