Republican News · Thursday 24 January 2002

Stalling tactic rejected by collusion families

Relatives of assasinated defence lawyers Pat Finucane and Rosemary Nelson have rejected the British and Irish governments' appointment of an international judge to review six collusion cases as a stalling tactic.

Bertie Ahern told a human rights conference in Dublin last week that a judge "of international standard" would be appointed by next April and both the British and Irish governments would abide by the findings and recommendations.

However, relatives and campaigners dismissed the review as another stalling tactic following the collapse of the third Stevens inquiry. Speaking for the first time since her sister's Rosemary's death, Bernadette McQuillan said the proposal was a device "to prevent the truth being told".

Geraldine Finucane said this latest proposal added to the family's belief that "one of the factors in refusing a public inquiry has been the suspicion that the British government at its highest level was involved in Pat's death.

"We would like to know who was involved in the Joint Intelligence Committee who were assessing the flow of information from the North. We want to know did they have prior knowledge of the threats to lawyers in the North?"

The Joint Intelligence Committee answered directly to the then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and included members of the British armed forces, British Intelligence, the Ministry of Defence, Home Office and NIO. Thatcher in turn briefed other members of the British government, including the then Attorney General Patrick Mayhew.

The committee, whose membership has never been disclosed, were given details of intelligence collected by the RUC and British Army in the North of Ireland. Amongst those supplying intelligence was FRU agent Brian Nelson, already exposed as a key player in the Finucane killing.

Human Rights Commissioner Brice Dickson has endorsed the family's call for an independent public inquiry. Addressing the conference, Dickson said he was "sufficiently convinced" that there had been Crown force collusion in the Finucane killing.

The case was just part of a "very nasty can of worms" said Dickson. The Commissioner rejected plans for a review by an international judge and backed relatives' call for an independent public inquiry.

"I do not think the inquiry called for by the UK and Irish government in the Weston Park document will go far enough to allay our concerns," said Dickson.