Statement from the Vice President of Republican Sinn Fein Des Dalton on the British Government's insistence on holding an inquiry under the restrictive British Inquiries Act 2005 rather than a full public and independent inquiry into the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane.
The fact that the British government are not prepared accede to the calls of the Finuance family as well as Judge Peter Cory - who carried out an investigation into collusion in a number of murders between British state forces and loyalists - for a full public and independent inquiry into the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane in 1989 should not come as an surprise.
As Pat Finucane’s wife Geraldine pointed out the British Government are only willing to hold an inquiry which British ministers can control “from behind the scenes”. The murder of Pat Finucane revealed the true face of British rule in Ireland and its collusion with loyalist death squads in a campaign of murder directed against the nationalist community. It is little wonder the British government do not want any light shed on such matters.