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Following a meeting with the Finucane family in Dublin last Thursday,
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern reiterated the Irish Government’s support for an
independent public inquiry into the killing of Pat Finucane.
“The Finucane family have travelled a long and difficult road in their
search for the truth. I reiterate the Government’s continuing support for a
public inquiry into Pat’s murder. That position has full all-party support
in Dáil Éireann,” Bertie Ahern said.
The Finucane family have asked the Taoiseach to raise the issue during his
address to a joint session of the US Congress next Wednesday. Last year,
Ahern made reference to the Finucane case and the issue of collusion during
an address to the joint Houses of Commons and Lords at Westminster.
Evidence of British state collusion in the murder of a Belfast defence
lawyer has not only commanded enduring public attention in Ireland but has
also been the focus of widespread international concern.
In light of this, a decision by a British minister to secretly block the
inquiry while maintaining the public perception that an inquiry into the
killing of Pat Finucane would take place is more than disingenuous – it is
downright deceitful.
Geraldine Finucane said: "I have long doubted whether the British Government had any real intention
of ever establishing a genuinely independent public inquiry into Pat’s
murder. This letter confirms my worst suspicions. They have misled my family, the Irish Government
and they have misled the European Court of Human Rights."
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