The wife of murdered Belfast lawyer Mr Pat Finucane has criticised the British and Irish governments for the delay in the appointment of an international judge to investigate the killing.
Mrs Geraldine Finucane is angry at what she claims is the lack of urgency surrounding one of the key proposals brokered at peace talks during the summer. "Until recently, the British and Irish governments hadn't even met to discuss the proposals any further," she said.
Mr Finucane was gunned down at his north Belfast home by the UDA in 1989. The murder is at the centre of claims that security forces colluded with loyalist terrorists to assassinate nationalists.
Mr Finucane's family have been demanding a full public inquiry into the killing, but at all-party talks at Weston Park in Staffordshire last August, it was agreed to appoint an international judge to decide if it was necessary.
Mrs Finucane has expressed concern that a timescale has not been put in place: "This is one thing the family are constantly worried about, that the issue is put on the back burner".
She claims the proposal made at Weston Park was very vague: "We are not dismissing it out of hand but we are not accepting it either. Certainly we need a lot of clarification and we need to be very certain of what we agree to".
Mrs Finucane has met nationalist political leaders at Stormont to enlist their support. SDLP leader Mr Mark Durkan and Sinn Féin president Mr Gerry Adams both pledged their support, she said.
PA