WATCH: Finucane family to seek Joe Biden’s support for public inquiry campaign

By David Young, PA

The family of Pat Finucane are to seek the support of President-Elect Joe Biden for their ongoing campaign for a public inquiry into his murder.

Mr Finucane’s widow and three children were left furious on Monday after the Government said no to an immediate inquiry.

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said he was not taking a public inquiry off the table but said further examinations of the case by police and a police watchdog should conclude first.

Mr Finucane, 39, who represented republican and loyalist paramilitaries during the conflict, was shot dead in his family home in north Belfast in February 1989 by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) in an attack found to have involved collusion with the state.

The Irish Government and 24 members of US congress were among those urging the UK Government to order an inquiry ahead of Monday’s announcement.

Mr Finucane’s son John, a solicitor and Sinn Fein MP for north Belfast, said Mr Biden had previously voiced support for his family’s campaign.

“When he was then Senator Biden as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he supported our calls for an inquiry,” he told the BBC.

“I appreciate he’s going to be in arguably the busiest role on the planet, so we aren’t we aren’t blind to that, but President-Elect Biden has already shown a clear interest in Irish affairs, he has history in supporting our campaign.

“We will be seeking his fresh support on this matter and I think that we can enjoy a degree of confidence that given the bipartisan way in which we have received support from America this is something that may well enjoy his future support.”

Mr Finucane added: “As my mum said very well yesterday: our campaign will continue.”

Explaining why the Government had decided against a public inquiry at this stage, Mr Lewis told Parliament outstanding issues before the Police Ombudsman’s office concerning original police investigations should be addressed first.

He said there could also be a review of the case by police officers at the start of next year, potentially carried out by a force from outside Northern Ireland.

Following Monday’s announcement, the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), Simon Byrne, made clear there were no new lines of inquiry in the case.

Mr Finucane’s widow Geraldine and the couple’s three children have been campaigning for decades for a public inquiry to establish the extent of security force involvement.

Last year, the Supreme Court said all previous examinations of the death had not been compliant with human rights standards.

The Supreme Court acknowledged Mrs Finucane had been given an “unequivocal undertaking” by the Government following the 2001 Weston Park agreement with the Irish Government that there would be a public inquiry into the murder.

However, the judges found that the Government had been justified in later deciding against holding one.

The court said it was up to the Government to decide what form of investigation was now required, if one was feasible.

Amid an almost two-year Government delay in responding to the judgment, Mrs Finucane took fresh judicial review proceedings against the state.

Monday’s announcement by Mr Lewis represented the Government’s formal response to the Supreme Court’s ruling.

The UUP Justice spokesperson, Doug Beattie MC MLA also reacted to the ruling and welcomed the Government's decision not to hold full public inquiry into murder of Pat Finucane.

The brutal terrorist murder of Pat Finucane was absolutely wrong and must be condemned.  Thousands of lives were lost in the Troubles. Every single family is mourning the loss of their loved ones with many still seeking truth and justice, and they are all entitled to an Article 2 compliant investigation.  

“On this occasion the Government has made the right decision. There cannot be a hierarchy of victims.

“The UK Supreme Court was clear in 2019 when it stated, ‘It does not follow that a public inquiry of the type which the appellant seeks must be ordered. It is for the state to decide, in light of the incapacity of Sir Desmond de Silva`s review and the inquiries which preceded it to meet the procedural requirements of article 2, what form of investigation, if indeed any is now feasible, is required in order to meet that requirement.’

“What we must do now is establish and agree a legacy process which is fair, balanced, equitable and proportionate. We need a process which can deliver closure for as many families as possible. And for the avoidance of doubt, as far as the Ulster Unionist Party is concerned, that process cannot be the legacy arrangements of the Stormont House Agreement.  

“The Dublin Government has been very vocal and visible with regard to demanding a public inquiry in the Finucane case. Dublin must now step up to the mark and account for the role played by the Republic during the Troubles, especially in the very early stages.  Dublin cannot walk away from its responsibilities as to what it holds in its files and it cannot credibly demand of London what it is not prepared to do itself.”