Sir, – The article on the recent British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly meeting (Home News, May 17th) included comments by the Northern Ireland Secretary, Owen Paterson MP on the long-overdue public inquiry into the murder of my father, Pat Finucane.
Every word quoted, no doubt accurately, paints the decision of the British government to appoint a lawyer to review the case papers and write a report for what it really is. It is a breach of the Anglo-Irish inter-governmental agreement made at Weston Park in 2001. It also represents demonstrably bad faith on the part of the British government in its dealings with my family prior to the announcement of the De Silva review.
Mr Paterson did not appear to mention during the meeting that his officials were in discussions with my family and our legal advisers for over a year before our visit to Downing Street in October 2011. At no time during any of the meetings, which I attended, did anyone raise the possibility that an alternative mechanism to a public inquiry was contemplated. Indeed, a model for an inquiry was proposed to us for our consideration, in order to address concerns over the restriction of information by UK government ministers. The format of the Baha Moussa Inquiry was suggested to us in order to demonstrate how our concerns and national security issues could both be accommodated in the context of an independent, public, judicial inquiry. This is what we have long campaigned for and what the British had promised to establish, until now.
The visit of the Finucane family to Downing Street to hear the prime minister renege on all of the commitments made previously was not a “gesture”, as Mr Paterson described it. It was a slap in the face. We were then forced to recount our humiliation to the world’s media from the doorway of 10 Downing Street. My mother, Geraldine, could only say that she was, “so angry she could barely speak”. She could have said a lot more besides but, as ever, she remained dignified in the most trying of circumstances.
Judicial review proceedings have now been initiated in the High Court in Belfast to try to overturn the decision of the British government not to hold an inquiry. The live status of the case precludes detailed comment for the moment. However, readers may be assured that when the matter is heard in full, they will be able to assess for themselves what went on behind the scenes. I have no doubt that when the facts emerge in open court, the calibre of individual that is now in charge of Britain will be apparent to all. – Yours, etc,