The UK government has announced that a public inquiry will be held into the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane.
Mr Finucane (39) was shot dead in his family home in north Belfast in February 1989 by the UDA in an attack found by a series of probes to have involved collusion with the state.
His 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.
Secretary of State Hilary Benn, making a statement on the murder of Pat Finucane, told the Commons: “This government takes its human rights obligations and responsibilities to victims and survivors of the Troubles extremely seriously.
“The plain fact is that two decades on the commitment made by the government - first in the agreement with the Irish government and then to this House - to establish an inquiry into the death of Mr Finucane remains unfulfilled.
“It is for this exceptional reason that I have decided to establish an independent inquiry into the death of Patrick Finucane under the 2005 Inquiries Act.”
In 2019, the Supreme Court said all previous examinations of the death had not been compliant with human rights standards.
Today is for my father, Pat Finucane.
— John Finucane MP (@johnfinucane) September 11, 2024
The announcement that there will now be a public inquiry into his murder is very much welcomed by our family.
Led by my mother Geraldine, we have campaigned for decades to uncover the truth behind my father’s murder.
I want to thank… pic.twitter.com/NWl3ikaSF6
The court acknowledged Mrs Finucane had been given an “unequivocal undertaking” by the British government following the 2001 Weston Park agreement that there would be a public inquiry into the murder.
However, the Supreme Court judges found that the British 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.
The following year, the government pushed back a decision on a public inquiry, insisting outstanding issues concerning the original police investigation needed to be first examined by the Police Ombudsman.
In the years since, Mrs Finucane has pursued further legal proceedings challenging the ongoing delays on a decision.
During the summer, the Court of Appeal in Belfast gave the government a September deadline to confirm what form of human rights-compliant investigation it intended to undertake into the murder.
Secretary of State Hilary Benn, who made an oral statement in the Commons, met with members of the Finucane family in Belfast on Tuesday evening.
Read updates of the day as it happened below.
