North Belfast priest: Finucane family deserve the truth, but so do all other paramilitary victims

Father Gary Donegan spoke to the News Letter after days of statements from republicans, nationalists, and the Alliance Party, decrying the UK government’s refusal to order another investigation into the north Belfast solicitor’s shooting.

The case of the murdered lawyer, whose 1989 killing is widely understood to have involved collusion between security forces and the UDA, has been the subject of three reviews by senior justice figures, has seen one man convicted of murder, and led to a formal apology from David Cameron in 2012.

But has not been made the subject of a full public inquiry (which would have the power to compel witnesses and hold public hearings).

The book Lost Lives says Pat Finucane was the 3,012th person murdered in the Troubles, with several hundred more killed after that.

Father Donegan (now living in Crossgar, but whose name became synonymous with north Belfast due to his mediation efforts in the Twaddell dispute, and who maintains an office there) told the News Letter he had hoped the Finucanes would get an inquiry – but that “a similar justice should be afforded to everyone”.

He said the Finucane case is “very well-documented” and that collusion has been officially acknowledged.

“Whereas there’s a lot of other situations that deserve the same level of justice but unfortunately the truth isn’t actually out there,” he said.

“At the end of the day, the exact same scrutiny should come with all cases. The same vigour and the same justice should be applied across the board.

“The scales of justice should not be weighed one way or the other; they should be straight down the line.”

Click here: Finucane inquiry: DUP figures remind MPs about IRA terror – including role of dead lawyer’s three brothers

Click here: ‘Focus on murder of Pat Finucane shows how other victims have been devalued’

– OFFER: We have a 30 per cent off subscription offer for the News Letter website which runs until midnight on Friday; visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up –

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers — and consequently the revenue we receive — we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content.

Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Alistair Bushe

Editor