Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have very little to say on this other than to express my deep regret at the loss of Mr. Finucane's father, a man who was doing his best for the society he worked in. It is simply not good enough that it has dragged on all of these years. I know that colleagues in Sinn Féin have always felt that there should be a truth commission to go back over some of the things that happened during the troubled years.

This was particularly a heinous crime insofar as the man who was targeted and taken out was doing nothing other than the job he was being paid to do. It must have been absolutely horrendous for John Finucane and his family to grow up knowing that their father was, for the want of a better description, taken out because he was a pain to society.

Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the Seanad debate last night. I join colleagues here, however, to demand that the British Government steps up to the plate and faces what has to be faced. The truth is there. It is time the British Government came out and had a judicial inquiry. We need to get it out in the open once and for all. Some terrible things were done by official forces, the people who should have been protecting both sides of the community. Official forces sided, as it suited them, with different sides, especially when it came to the murder of Pat Finucane. It was a heinous thing to do. All I can do is express my deepest sympathy to John Finucane and his family. I assure him that what little influence I have I will use in any way I can to push for a full inquiry.