Son still fighting for Pat Finucane inquiry after 30 years

The UDA shot the solicitor 14 times in front of his wife and children as they ate Sunday lunch on February 12, 1989.

In 2012 then prime minister David Cameron said the level of state collusion uncovered by a report into his murder was “shocking” although the report concluded there was “no over-arching state conspiracy”.

The review by Sir Desmond de Silva, a former UN war crimes prosecutor, said that state agents were involved in the murder and that Mr Finucane’s death should have been prevented.

However, Mr Finucane’s widow, Geraldine, dismissed the report as a “whitewash”.

The Finucane family has campaigned for years for a public inquiry into the murder and a Supreme Court judgment connected to the case is pending.

Mr Finucane’s son John said: “I think it has been an example of what you can achieve if you are persistent and you have that support around you. We weren’t just a family, we had the support of NGOs, we had the support of investigative journalists, we had the support of governments and politicians.

“Whilst it hasn’t delivered an inquiry, it has resulted in the word collusion having a very different context – people now accept that it happened and there is no longer a ‘few rotten apples in the barrel theory’ and it is no longer ‘republican propaganda’.”

An event to reflect on Mr Finucane’s life was held in west Belfast on Sunday.

At the event former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams spoke of “the indomitable courage, and the leadership of Pat Finucane”.

He added: “He worked long demanding hours, under trying and difficult conditions, representing his clients… During this time Pat defended many political prisoners. Later during the hunger strikes he represented Bobby Sands and the prisoners’ interests.”

Pat Finucane’s family had strong republican connections. His brother John was killed in a car crash while on active IRA service. Another brother beat an attempt to extradite him from the Republic. A third brother was the fiancé of IRA member Mairead Farrell, who was shot dead by the SAS. After his murder, the UDA said they shot “Pat Finucane the Provisional IRA officer, not Pat Finucane the solicitor” but the RUC said there was no evidence he was in the IRA and that he was “just another law-abiding citizen”.