The Five Demands

‘Policy of delay’ on Finucane prove (Belfast Telegraph)
The Government is following the same “policy of delay” over the murder of Northern Ireland solicitor Pat Finucane that has prevented a public inquiry for decades, his family has said.
The Army, police and intelligence service have been implicated in the loyalist murder of the lawyer who was shot dead in front of his wife and children in 1989.
His widow, Geraldine Finucane, said Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Owen Paterson earlier this year promised he was close to a decision on the case, but the issue had been delayed without proper explanation.
In a surprise move, it emerged in January that Mr Paterson had initiated talks with the bereaved family in a bid to bring closure to the long-running case.
But Mrs Finucane said: “The Secretary of State, Owen Patterson, told me in March this year that he would make his decision after the Northern Ireland Assembly elections [in May] as he was in the final stages of taking that decision.”
She said she was disappointed by his handling of the issue and accused Mr Paterson of failing to keep “his promise”.
Mrs Finucane said: “I am also very unhappy that no reason has been provided to me for this delay.
“Neither correspondence nor contact has been made to the family’s legal representative or me informing us that the decision has been put back and will be dealt with after the House of Commons recess.”
A spokesman for the Northern Ireland Office said: “The Secretary of State regrets that this has taken longer than expected, but it is a complex issue.”

Related articles

• Inquiry clears NIreland authorities in killing (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Open ended inquiries, Unionist fury at Finucane probe. (politics.ie)