Finucane Family Responds to Paul Murphy’s Statement 

This is a very disappointing but expected statement. The British Government continue to cover up the truth about the death of my husband with their delaying tactics. We did not ask for the Stevens investigation. We did not ask for Justice Cory to prepare a report and we certainly have never asked for prosecutions. We have always said that these were delaying tactics and the delay continues.

But the campaign for a public inquiry will also continue.

Paul Murphy quoted Justice Cory as saying "... Society must be assured that those who commit a crime will be prosecuted and if found guilty punished…". However he did not refer to the fact that Justice Cory also said in his report that "this may be one of the rare situations where a public inquiry will be of greater benefit to a community than prosecutions." 

Justice Cory’s report confirms that there was a State policy of targeting and assassination. The public should read the details in his report. It is unbelievable but the official documents that he examined show that it is all true.

David Trimble made very hurtful and untrue statements today which he should be ashamed of. He must prove what he says. His accusations were designed to signal to a small section of the public that my husband’s murder was justified but David Trimble thinks that the public are naïve and they will believe his unfounded, unproved, and cowardly accusations. He knows that my husband is not here to refute these allegations. I have heard these lies before. A public inquiry will give him the opportunity to repeat the statements he made today and I look forward to the day when he is forced to publicly retract them. 

Justice Cory stated that it was my husband’s role as a solicitor which led to his murder. Trimble’s statement in Parliament today was not only false but it is also something which was contradicted by Justice Cory himself and by the RUC files which he examined. 

Justice Cory specifically emphasised the statement of the presiding Coroner at Pat’s Inquest who said:

‘The police refute the claim that Mr Finucane was a member of PIRA. He was just another law-abiding citizen going about his professional duties in a professional manner. He was well known both inside and outside the legal profession. He was regarded in police circles as very professional and he discharged his duties with vigour and professionalism."

As Justice Cory said as a result of the cowardly actions of Pat’s murderers I have been deprived of the love and companionship of a good husband, his children of his care and guidance and Northern Ireland of his courage and skill as a lawyer.

For further details contact:

Michael Finucane - +353 (0) 87 2247898
Martin Finucane - 07801334949

Pat Finucane Centre
Press Release
1st April 2004

The Pat Finucane Centre condemns the failure of the British Government to establish an independent inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane. The Cory Collusion Inquiry Report makes clear that the need for such an inquiry in Pat Finucane’s case. The British and Irish governments guaranteed at the Weston Park talks that a public inquiry would be established if Cory recommended this.

The Pat Finucane Centre welcomes in principle the announcement of public inquiries into the murders of Rosemary Nelson, Robert Hamill and Billy Wright. The announcement is recognition of the longstanding efforts of all the families and their supporters in human rights organisations and different political parties for truth and justice in each of these cases.

Spokesperson for the Pat Finucane Centre said:

It is important that these inquiries are now established immediately and in a manner with which the families are satisfied. It is vital that these inquiries are independent in nature and that the commitment to time-limit and cost-limit the inquiries is not used as an excuse to continue to cover-up the crimes of commission and omission involved in the different cases. 

It is important that we learn the lessons of the two Bloody Sunday inquiries in particular are learned before any new inquiries are established. The inquiries must establish the truth of each case whatever embarrassment this causes to the British state, the British Army, the RUC/PSNI and the British security services. The future of the Irish peace process and the Good Friday Agreement depends on a successful resolution to the profound concerns that exist in each of these cases.

The PFC endorses Judge Cory’s analysis that if criminal prosecutions are to proceed the practical effect might be to delay the public inquiry for at least two years. The Finucane family will be devastated. A large part of the Northern Ireland community will be frustrated. Myths and misconceptions will proliferate and hopes of peace and understanding will be eroded. This may be one of the rare situations where a public inquiry will be of greater benefit to a community than prosecutions.

The spokesperson went on to say:

We recognise a specific obligation for justice in the cases of our friends Pat Finucane and Rosemary Nelson. While any murder has terrible consequences for the individuals and families involved, the murder of leading human rights defenders has additional and specific implications for the defence of human rights – a concern that is at the very heart of democracy, peace and the rule of law. 

It is poignantly ironic that Rosemary Nelson was one of those human rights defenders who had campaigned most actively for a public inquiry into the murder of her colleague Pat Finucane. The widespread concern in the international human rights community around the deaths of Pat and Rosemary was testament to how important these tragic events were – both nationally and internationally. 

The British Government must deliver justice to these human rights defenders if it is to have any credibility in its stated support for human rights and democracy. If they wish to maintain any credibility in the international human rights community at all, they should establish an independent public inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucance immediately.

For further comment, contact Dr. Robbie McVeigh, spokesperson for the Pat Finucane Centre at 07796277231.