Auto Amazon Links: No products found. Blocked by captcha.
The widow of Pat Finucane, the Belfast solicitor murdered in 1989, has expressed deep frustration over the delay in launching a public inquiry that the UK Government had promised to begin in 2024. Geraldine Finucane believes the hold-up stems from issues surrounding the establishment of the inquiry’s terms of reference, which will define the scope and focus of the investigation. Without these terms being set, the inquiry remains unable to start its work.
Pat Finucane, aged 39 at the time, was fatally shot at his north Belfast home by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). On the 37th anniversary of his death, Geraldine emphasized the family’s increasing impatience, noting that despite submitting their feedback on the draft terms of reference in November, three months have passed without their public release. The Northern Ireland Office responded by assuring that the government is working diligently with the inquiry’s independent chair to finalize the terms promptly so that unnecessary delays can be avoided.
Their son, John Finucane, now a Sinn Féin Member of Parliament for North Belfast, highlighted the significance of having the terms of reference published. He pointed out that without them, the inquiry lacks legal standing, halting all progress, including the chair’s ability to begin work and the family’s engagement with the process. John described this as more than a mere delay, describing it as a complete standstill of the entire inquiry, a situation he said was especially disheartening on the anniversary of his father’s murder, which ideally should have marked the start of the investigation.
Pat Finucane was a well-known solicitor who represented clients from both loyalist and republican communities, including key members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). His murder occurred when loyalist paramilitaries broke into his home with a sledgehammer during a family meal, shooting him fourteen times and injuring his wife Geraldine. The Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), a cover group for the UDA, claimed responsibility for the killing. An inquest rejected allegations linking Finucane to the IRA, and a 2012 report by Sir Desmond de Silva revealed involvement of agents and criticized the police for failing to act on prior intelligence threats against him
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
Auto Amazon Links: No products found. Blocked by captcha.