Liz O'Donnell (Dublin South, Progressive Democrats)

On behalf of the Progressive Democrats I welcome the Finucane family this evening. As other Members have said, it is deeply regrettable that 17 years after the murder of Mr. Finucane, the Dáil is calling for the long overdue public and independent inquiry into his case. This motion reminds me of a meeting with Mrs. Finucane on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of her husband's death, in my capacity as the then Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs. That meeting made a lasting impression on me as did the reading of the confidential report which was given to the Government by the non-governmental organisation, British Irish Rights Watch, into the allegations of collusion in the murder of Pat Finucane. The report, entitled, Deadly Intelligence — State Involvement in Loyalist Murder in Northern Ireland, was based on a body of material from confidential contacts and sources. It examined collusion allegations concerning the Finucane murder. That report concluded there was a case for an inquiry which was of urgent public interest. The report asserted that machinery within the British system targeted people for murder. It raised issues of the most fundamental concern to all who uphold human rights and the rule of law. One month later at the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva, as Minister of State I urged that the British Government give a full response to the British Irish Rights Watch report. Sadly by that time I also had to urge it to have a full and transparent investigation into the murder of Rosemary Nelson, another murdered lawyer.

Shortly following that UN visit in April 1999, I wrote to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the late Mo Mowlam, enclosing the Government's assessment of the British Irish Rights Watch report:

As the assessment argues, the Finucane case and the associated allegations of collusion fulfil the fundamental requirement of a public inquiry, i.e. that the matter under consideration is of urgent public interest.

My letter continued:

While it is invidious to select one victim as more deserving than another, I believe that the murder of a lawyer is different in symbolic terms. To blur the lines between client and lawyer by targeting the lawyer is a fundamental attack on the rule of law and the concept of equality before the law.

One year later in February 2000, Mrs. Finucane urged the Taoiseach to support the family's bid for an independent public inquiry which has continued to this day. In the interim, the family has had to wait until the Weston Park negotiations to agree the appointment of Judge Peter Cory and for his report to be finally published by the British Government in April 2004. Judge Cory's excellent report reaffirmed that collusion had taken place and also set out clearly the type of public inquiry needed in the case. Lord John Stevens completed three lengthy investigations into this matter but only 17 pages of the third Stevens report were published. He concluded that the British security services were complicit in the murder. As part of the Government we approach the Finucane case as a reckoning with the past to signal that the new dispensation of the Good Friday Agreement represented a new reality and the promise of a new future. My letter to Ms Mo Mowlam was written during a period of increased co-operation and collegiality in relations between the two countries. That relationship has deepened over time with a common approach on many issues between the Governments of Britain and Ireland. It is all the more imperative in light of that understanding and ongoing good relationship between the two Governments that the British Government responds to this motion. The British Government's delay in establishing a public inquiry has become a critical issue. As time passes the credibility of the British position has been eroded. Since the British Irish Rights Watch report was written, two of the key suspects in the case, Mr. William Stobie and Mr. Brian Nelson, have died.

It is difficult for any modern state to face up to the appalling vista of past state collusion in murder. However, these allegations can be answered only by a full public inquiry that is independent and has the support of the Finucane family and the Irish Government. With the recent passing into law of the UK Inquiries Act the goalposts have been moved, as Judge Cory has described it. In 1999 the Irish Government concluded that there was a compelling case for a public inquiry into this matter and that case is no less compelling today.

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