The British government has done what it should have decades ago and ordered a public inquiry into the 1989 murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane.
It is undoubtedly a watershed moment. Above all, it vindicates the long and determined campaign led by Mr Finucane’s widow, Geraldine, to establish the truth behind one of the most controversial killings of the Troubles. As she put it, with admirable understatement, after 35 years “it is time for truth”.
A public inquiry also offers hope that the stench from the Augean stables of cover-up and collusion surrounding Mr Finucane’s murder will finally be swept clean.
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One of the remarkable, indeed alarming, features of the Finucane case is that despite accepting that collusion between the security forces and loyalist paramilitaries lies at the heart of the killing, the state has strenuously resisted efforts to explore the scandal any further.
A cast of RUC Special Branch and British army agents and informers have been linked to the murder; Sir John Stevens reported that there was collusion and in 2004, retired Canadian judge Peter Cory recommended a public inquiry after concluding that military and police intelligence knew of the murder plot but failed to intervene.
Following yet another review, in 2012 then-prime minister David Cameron made an apology to the Finucane family for “shocking levels of collusion”.
A series of court actions, the most recent of which in July saw the Court of Appeal order the British government to carry out a human rights compliant investigation, preceded secretary of state Hilary Benn’s announcement in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
A public inquiry also offers hope that the stench from the Augean stables of cover-up and collusion surrounding Pat Finucane’s murder will finally be swept clean
He emphasised the “unique” and “exceptional” circumstances of the Finucane case, and how the commitment made by the government two decades ago to establish an inquiry “remains unfulfilled”.
Mr Benn said the government had considered referring the Finucane case to the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, but decided that a public inquiry was appropriate.
This is another example of Mr Benn’s puzzling stance on the flawed ICRIR. He ought to urgently clarify his position if he is remotely serious about expecting the families of Troubles victims to rely on a body which has demonstrably failed to secure widespread support.
The breadth and depth of the matters of profound public concern in the Finucane case mean an inquiry is fully justified. Mrs Finucane has also held out hope that an examination of the collusion that plagued our society can allow “the real process of healing to begin”. As with far too many other wounds inflicted by the Troubles, it’s a tragedy it has taken so long for the investigation into Pat Finucane’s murder to reach the point where that healing might be allowed to start.
