DUP on Finucane inquiry rejection: ‘Thousands bereaved in Troubles have never seen anyone convicted’

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the leader of the DUP in the House of Commons, has stressed the sheer scale of unsolved murders in Northern Ireland as the government rejected calls to establish a full public inquiry into the Pat Finucane killing.

He was speaking shortly after NI secretary Brandon Lewis said this evening that, after due consideration, the Tory government will not act on pressure from republicans to establish such a probe.

There have already been three different reports which looked in detail at the events surrounding Mr Finucane’s death, carried out by senior figures in the justice system (the Stevens III report of 2003, the Cory report of 2004, and the de Silva report of 2012), all citing evidence of state/loyalist collusion.

Ken Barrett was jailed in 2004 for the murder.

Sir Jeffrey said: “Dealing with the past is deeply sensitive. It is important that a hierarchy of victims is not created.

“The murder of Patrick Finucane, like all murders during the Troubles, was wrong and we condemn it in the strongest terms.

“The then Prime Minister David Cameron apologised in 2012 and as a result of the investigations and the reviews, Ken Barrett was convicted of the murder.

“We must remember that there are thousands of people tonight in Northern Ireland who have never seen anyone brought to justice for the horrific murder of their loved one.

“What we now need for all victims is a comprehensive legacy process to deal with all the outstanding cases.

“The Stormont House Agreement’s six-year-old legacy proposals failed to gain sufficient support amongst innocent victims.

“As the recent NIO consultation demonstrated, it is time for a fresh updated approach.

“The Government should bring forward proposals which can command support amongst the innocent victims of the Troubles. At the core of those proposals must be truth and justice.

“Ultimately, justice will bring forward truth and silence those who would seek to rewrite the past.”

Click here: ‘Focus on murder of Pat Finucane shows how other victims have been devalued’Click here: IRA victim’s daughter: ‘Pain of the Finucane family is no different to our own – why do we not get the same consideration?’A message from the Editor:

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