#Finucane Family Angered By Cameron

Geraldine and John Finucane, the widow and son of murdered solicitor Pat Finucane, with their solicitor Peter Madden outside 10 Downing Street, London, after a meeting with British prime minister David Cameron. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

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The widow of murdered Northern Ireland solicitor Pat Finucane said today she felt “angry” and “insulted” after David Cameron told her he was proposing a barrister-led review of her husband’s case.

After meeting the prime minister in Downing Street, Geraldine Finucane told reporters the whole family was “very disappointed” and would not support the initiative.

The family wants a full independent inquiry into the loyalist shooting in 1989.

Mr Finucane was shot by the UDA as he sat eating a Sunday meal at home. His wife was wounded in the attack, which was witnessed by the couple’s three children.There were allegations that some members of the security forces collaborated with loyalist paramilitaries to the extent that they could have stopped the killing.

Speaking in Downing Street, Mrs Finucane said: “I am so angry and so insulted by being brought to Downing Street today to hear what the Prime Minister had on offer.

“He is offering a review. He wants a QC to read the papers in my husband’s case and that is how he expects to reach the truth. All of us are very upset and very disappointed.”

She added that she was “so angry with the prime minister that I actually called a halt to the meeting”.

Mr Finucane’s son Michael, who also attended today’s meeting with Mr Cameron and Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson, accused the prime minister of “reneging on a commitment that the previous government made to hold a public inquiry”.

He said Mr Cameron gave the “feeble” explanation that public inquiries had not worked in similar cases. “He seemed oblivious to the fact that the absence of participation by our family would mean we simply couldn’t support what he proposed,” he added.

In a statement, the Pat Finucane Centre campaign group said: “It is absolutely vital that any inquiry be allowed to delve into the involvement of the British Army Force Research Unit, RUC Special Branch and the security service MI5 in the murder.

“Britain is failing to honour the commitment it made at Weston Park to implement the recommendations of Judge Cory, the Canadian judge appointed by the two governments to evaluate the evidence in a number of contentious cases.”

Retired Canadian judge Peter Cory was appointed by the British and Irish governments to examine allegations of collusion surrounding the Finucane murder  and other controversial killings.

He recommended a public inquiry into Mr Finucane’s death, as well as inquiries into the murders of Portadown Catholic Robert Hamill, solicitor Rosemary Nelson and Loyalist Volunteer Force leader Billy Wright, shot dead by republicans at the high-security Maze Prison. The three other inquiries have already been held.

Former prime minister Tony Blair promised the victim’s family that the allegations would be investigated but no inquiry was set up.

Speaking in the Dáil today, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said if Mrs Finucane was not happy with the outcome of her meeting with Mr Cameron, then the House would not be happy either.

He was responding to comments from Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams who called for the Government to challenge Mr Cameron’s proposal to organise a barrister-led review rather than a full inquiry.

“I think the Government needs to press it and very, very hard,” said Mr Adams. “This is once again the British government looking to play a long game on this issue and it isn’t fair.”

The Taoiseach agreed, saying all parties in the Dáil were behind the Finucanes. He said he spoke to Mr Cameron who had informed him of intentions for the case. “He indicated to me it was his intention to get to the truth of this matter as quickly as possible and to issue an apology on the death of Pat Finucane,” he said.

“I told him that the house had always supported Geraldine Finucane in her search for the truth and the issues surrounding the death of her husband," he said. “I haven’t changed my mind and I indicated quite clearly that if Geraldine was not happy with what was on offer then clearly we would not be happy either.”

He said Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore will invite Mrs Finucane to meet the Government next week to discuss the meeting with Mr Cameron and to establish how to move forward.

PA 

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/1011/breaking9.html?via=rel

#FINUCANE Case may go to INTERNATIONAL COURT; Tánaiste Confirms Diplomatic Conflict :

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has hit out at British prime minister David Cameron over his refusal to order a public inquiry into the controversial murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane.
Mr Gillmore, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, accused London of falling short of a deal struck at the Weston Park peace talks in 2001.

He said Dublin had already conveyed its dissatisfaction and disappointment and would be preparing a formal response in the coming days. “There are sometimes occasions when frank disagreements arise between states,” Mr Gilmore said. “This is one on this occasion.”

The Finucane family walked out on a meeting with Mr Cameron at Downing Street last Tuesday when he told them he would ask a senior barrister, Desmond de Silva QC, to review the files into the killing rather than set up a full inquiry.

Mr Gilmore said Taoiseach Enda Kenny was only told about the decision during a telephone call from Mr Cameron shortly before the meeting. Both Mr Kenny and Mr Gilmore have expressed their dissatisfaction personally with Mr Cameron and Northern Ireland Secretary of State Owen Paterson.

The Finucane family’s legal team will work with Government officials in the coming days on their contacts with the British government in recent months ahead of a formal response from Dublin. Top level meetings are expected to follow.

Mr Gilmore said Ireland had an agreement with Britain over the investigation of certain murders involving alleged State collusion during the Troubles with which Mr Cameron’s government had to comply.

“It is our view that what has been proposed by the British government falls short of that,” he said.

Speaking after a meeting with Mr Gilmore in Dublin, Pat Finucane’s widow Geraldine said he had described last Tuesday’s decision as a dark day for her family, the country and the rule of law.

“I do believe the Government are as upset about what happened on Tuesday as the family are,” she said.

Mrs Finucane said she was disappointed Taoiseach Enda Kenny could not make the meeting but said it was clear anything Mr Gilmore was pledging had the full backing of the Taoiseach.

Michael Finucane, son of Pat Finucane, described the fall-out as a significant diplomatic incident.

Himself a solicitor based in Dublin, Mr Finucane said the British government had reneged on a bi-lateral political agreement and he understood the Irish government was seeking the legal advice of the Attorney General.

On the possibility of taking their case to an international court, he said: “Such a step would require detailed consideration and legal advice, but I would imagine it is one option.”

Mr Finucane said the British government had misled his family, the media and the Government. “At the very least their actions are disingenuous in the extreme,” he added.

A masked gang from the loyalist Ulster Defence Association (UDA) shot Pat Finucane in front of his wife and three children as they ate dinner in their north Belfast home in 1989.The British government has admitted there was state collusion in the murder.
PA 

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/1017/breaking62.html#.TpziCWh4U3g.twitter


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#Finucane : #Amnesty - United Kingdom/Northern Ireland: Deplorable government decision to renege on promise of public inquiry into Finucane killing

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EUR45/017/2011/en?refresh

Pat #Finucane : Tom Watson - House Of Lords Debate

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2011-10-12a.335.0&s=speaker:11309#g348.1

#FINUCANE: Apology for 1989 Finucane Murder

The British Government is "deeply sorry" following the murder of Belfast solicitor Patrick Finucane, Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson has said.

 

Making a statement in the Commons, he told MPs that Mr Finucane's killing in front of his family on February 12 1989 was "a terrible crime", adding that there have been long-standing allegations of security force collusion in his murder.

Former Metropolitan Police commissioner Lord Stevens was asked to investigate the murder in 1999.

Mr Paterson said Prime Minister David Cameron invited the family to Downing Street on Tueday so he could apologise to them in person and on behalf of the Government for state collusion in the murder of Mr Finucane.

He said: "The Government accepts the clear conclusions of Lord Stevens and Judge Cory that there was collusion. Mr Speaker, I want to reiterate the Government's apology in the House. The Government is deeply sorry for what happened."

Mr Paterson said he and the Prime Minister were committed to ensuring the "truth is revealed". He told the House he had asked former United Nations war crimes prosecutor Sir Desmond de Silva QC to conduct an independent review to produce a full public account of any state involvement in the murder.

"We do not need a statutory inquiry to tell us that there was collusion," he said. Mr Paterson maintained that the process outlined would be the "quickest and most effective way" of getting to the truth. Experience had shown, he added, that public inquiries took many years and could be subject to prolonged litigation.

But newly installed shadow Northern Ireland secretary Vernon Coaker labelled the review "inadequate". He said it was "a source of great regret" to the last government that they were not able to agree terms of reference with the Finucane family for an inquiry to take place.

Mr Coaker said that while inquiries take time and cost money, it is "possible for these to be both reasonable and, in themselves, should not be a barrier to the pursuit of justice". He added: "By seeking the truth and by honouring agreements, the cause of justice is served and, with it, the cause of a better future for Northern Ireland."

Mr Paterson insisted that, unlike his predecessors, he met the Finucane family. He denied ever indicating that the Government would launch a full public inquiry.

Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/apology-for-1989-finucane-murder-16062903.html#ixzz1aawKwOsA

#FINUCANES : Abruptly Halt Meeting With PM After Shock Murder Probe Decision

The family of murdered Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane have reacted with fury after the Prime Minister brought them to Downing Street to personally reject calls for a public inquiry into the controversial killing.


They have accused the Prime Minister of being scared to open an inquiry into one of the most notorious killings in Northern Ireland’s history.


Instead David Cameron is to press ahead with a review of the evidence in the case led by QC Desmond DeSilva.


The decision has been welcomed by unionist politicians who see it as drawing a line under a series of costly public inquiries, but attacked by nationalists and the Irish government.


Catholic lawyer Finucane was shot dead by loyalists at his north Belfast home in February 1989 — a killing that sparked allegations of collusion. Some key UDA figures at the time were working for Army intelligence and RUC Special Branch.


Expectations had been raised that Mr Cameron was set to establish a public inquiry, which would have had the power to call witnesses and gather evidence, after the family were asked to come to Downing Street.


Six members of the Finucane family were at the Downing Street talks yesterday. But the PM quickly told the family that there would be a review instead.


A Downing Street spokesman said the Prime Minister had “expressed his profound sympathy for the family” and accepted “that State collusion had taken place in Mr Finucane’s murder”. He also apologised to the Finucane family.


It was Mr Finucane’s widow Geraldine who called an early halt to the Downing Street meeting.
She said: “All of us are very upset and very disappointed.”


Mr Finucane’s son John told the Belfast Telegraph: “We felt insulted — being brought over to London to be offered something so insulting. It’s a step back.


“We’re still in the aftermath of trying to take it all in. After 12 months of engagement (with Government officials) what has been put on offer was never mentioned.


“It’s a step back. We said ‘you are making an absolute mess of it’.”


But the shock for the Finucane family is the news that the case will not be examined in a full public inquiry.


“We feel they are scared to have an inquiry into the murder of my father,” Mr Finucane said. “Every action that the British Government has taken since Cory (the report by Canadian Judge Peter Cory on the murder) shows that their goal is to ensure that the truth does not come out. We’ve been asked to accept a behind-closed-doors review of the evidence — a process into which we would have no input,” he said.


Mr Finucane told this newspaper that the Prime Minister had made clear that the Government’s intention was to push ahead with the review even if the family refused to endorse it. And it means one of the ugliest killings in a decades-long conflict is not going to be the subject of public scrutiny, but rather the evidence gathered in the Stevens investigations will be reviewed with a report by a QC due by the end of next year.


It is a long way short of the family’s hopes and expectations.


The Irish government has pledged to support the Finucane family. Speaking in the Dail, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said if Geraldine Finucane was not happy with the outcome of her meeting with Mr Cameron, then the House would not be happy either.


But DUP North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds said: “Everyone understands the desire of relatives to get the full facts about the death of their loved one. However, history in Northern Ireland has shown that the kind of expensive open-ended inquiry demanded in some cases has not been able to bring closure for anyone involved and has actually increased community tensions.”

Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/finucanes-abruptly-halt-meeting-with-pm-after-shock-murder-probe-decision-16062677.html#ixzz1aavPm230