Finucane inquiry plans 'halted'

The widow of murdered solicitor Pat Finucane has said the British government decided 18 months ago to stop preparations for a public inquiry.

Mr Finucane, 39, was shot dead at his north Belfast home by the UDA in 1989.

Geraldine Finucane said the family only discovered the decision when they contacted the NIO to check on progress.

She was told it was taken because the family refused to accept ministerial control of an inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005.

"They appear to be saying that, unless we agree that British government ministers should be allowed to control what information the inquiry is permitted to examine in public, there will be no inquiry at all," Mrs Finucane said.

In 2004, Canadian judge Peter Cory recommended a public inquiry be held into the allegations of collusion in the murders of Mr Finucane, fellow solicitor Rosemary Nelson, Catholic father of two Robert Hamill and LVF leader Billy Wright in 1997.

The Wright, Hamill and Nelson inquiries have all got under way.

However, the Finucane Inquiry has been stalled because his family have objected to it being held under the Inquiries Act because it enables a British government minister to rule when an inquiry sits in public or private.

The decision to halt the inquiry was made by the secretary of state Peter Hain in the autumn of 2006.

In a statement, the NIO said: ""The secretary of state (Shaun Woodward) takes the death of Pat Finucane extremely seriously.

"When the family met his predecessor (Mr Hain) they made it clear their opposition to an inquiry being held under the terms of the 2005 Inquiries Act.

"We are considering their most recent correspondence."

Mrs Finucane is meeting Taoiseach Berie Ahern in Dublin later.

"I want to be involved in an inquiry so that I can resolve the many issues surrounding Pat's murder," she said.

"I do not want to have to campaign forever. All I ask is that the inquiry is open and fair and that it is not controlled by the British government from behind the scenes."

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Northern Ireland Office
On This Day - Pat Finucane's murder
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