Madden & Finucane Solicitors
Patrick J. Finucane (1949 - 1989)
88 Castle Street
Belfast, BT1 1HE
Peter J. Madden, Gerald Hyland, Andrew Russell, Roisin McKenna, Ciarán Shiels, Cathy McGrann, Paul Lenehan
Press statement on behalf of the Donaldson family
Friday, 7 April, 2006
”Denis was a loving husband, a devoted father and grandfather and a good
brother. The events of recent months have been very difficult for our family.
In December, Denis left his home in Belfast and moved to Donegal where it
was his desire that he be left alone to rebuild his life. Unfortunately, he
continued to be pursued by sections of the media, some of whom gave details
about his whereabouts.
On Tuesday 4th April, Denis was murdered. We do not know by whom. But the
difficult situation which our family has been put in is the direct result of
the activities of the Special Branch and British Intelligence agencies.
We acknowledge the speedy statement from the IRA disassociating themselves
from this murder. We believe that statement to be true.
We would ask those politicians and media commentators who have sought to use
this tragedy to score cheap political points to stop doing so.
In the next few days, Denis will return home to Belfast to be with his
family for one last time and to be buried. The funeral will be private and
we would ask the media to respect our privacy at this time.
Finally, we wish to express our deep gratitude to friends, neighbours and
the wider community for the compassion, solidarity and sympathy given to our
family throughout this."