Members of the Finucane family are due to meet the British Prime Minister David Cameron and NI Secretary of State Owen Paterson at No.10 Downing Street on Tuesday, 11 October 2011, to discuss the Government’s position on an inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane in Belfast in 1989.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Geraldine Finucane said:
“My family and I have been invited to Downing Street to discuss the current position of the British Government regarding the public inquiry into the murder of my husband, Pat Finucane. It is expected that we will be told what the decision of the Government is with regard to the holding of an inquiry. I expect the Prime Minster to confirm that his Government will honour the commitment given during negotiations at Weston Park in 2001 and establish an inquiry that is consistent with the recommendations made in the report submitted to the Government by former Supreme Court Judge Peter Cory in 2004.
“My family and I have campaigned for a long time for a public inquiry. However, we are not prepared to settle for just any form of inquiry. How the process operates is just as important as the establishment of one. An inquiry that is not public, effective, independent or fully prepared to allow my family to participate to the maximum extent is not an inquiry worth having. We would not accept such an inquiry and neither will the wider public who have very serious concerns about the circumstances of Pat’s murder.”
“My family have been campaigning for nearly 23 years for an independent public judicial inquiry into Pat’s murder. It is high time the issue was confronted, analysed and resolved.”
“I believe that it is a mistake to ignore cases of serious concern just because they are in the past. I believe the only way our society can move forward into a peaceful future is by examining the controversies of our past and exposing them fully for all to see. I believe this creates foundations of confidence, upon which a lasting peace can be built. I look forward to discussing this part of those foundations with the Prime Minister next week.”