Irish Republican News · April 2, 2004

April fools

The British government's announcement of public inquiries into three recent cases of alleged collusion yesterday has masked its continuing attempt to cover up a sprawling conspiracy of official terror and assassination.

In his long-delayed and carefully worded statement to the British parliament, Direct Ruler Paul Murphy proclaimed his government was standing by a commitment to act on the findings of Peter Cory, even as he reneged on it.

The inquiries by Mr Cory into six cases of collusion, four north and two south of the border, was originally seen as a delaying tactic. After a 15-year campaign to find the truth, the family of Pat Finucane suspected a fraud.

Now, almost three years after the original commitment was made at Weston Park, including six months of unexplained delay following the completion of the reports, the British government simply attempted to pull the wool over the eyes of the public.

There was an element of the magician's technique of redirection when reports emerged that inquiries into the murders of Rosemary Nelson, Robert Hamill and Billy Wright in 1997 and 1998, would go ahead. This announcement was greeted with understandable relief by the families concerned.

But the Finucane case -- the critical case that is the ring-pull on the can of worms within the RUC, MI5, and FRU -- was clooked and secreted away under the guise of `sub judice'.

If we never knew that the British government had something terrible to hide in this case, now we know.

And we know also something of the nature of David Trimble. His remarks yesterday were incredible, and appeared initially to have been taken out of context.

Today, disgracefully, he has repeated them, and outside the privilige of parliament.

The family of Pat Finucane have heard the `terrorist' smear before -- in 1989, when then British Home Secretary Douglas Hogg all but set up their loved one for assassination.

The family of Rosemary Nelson have not. But, whatever about the blind hatred Mr Trimble must feel for two members of the legal profession who have defended the human and civil rights of republicans, his comments have disgraced that profession, and himself. He should resign.

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