The widow of murdered Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane has hailed the first day of a long-campaigned for public inquiry into his death as “monumental”.
The 39-year-old was shot dead at his family home in north Belfast in 1989 by the Ulster Defence Association in an attack found by a series of probes to have involved collusion with the state.
The Finucane family has been campaigning for decades for a public inquiry to establish the extent of security force involvement.
During his opening statement to the Patrick Finucane Inquiry, its chairman Sir Gary Hickinbottom said the conclusions he reaches will be informed by the evidence he hears and nothing else.
Northern Ireland’s former police ombudsman, Baroness Nuala O’Loan, and international human rights lawyer Francesca Del Mese will act as assessors to the inquiry, which is expected will last a number of years.
Sir Gary opened the first hearing of the independent inquiry, describing the killing of the prominent Belfast solicitor by loyalist paramilitaries in 1989 as a “horrific murder which remains one of the most high-profile and controversial of Northern Ireland’s troubled past”.
During the start of his opening statement, he also paused for a moment to remember all those killed during the Troubles.
Sir Gary went on to say that while investigations have taken place into Mr Finucane’s murder in the past, none were compliant with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The inquiry will be inquisitorial, he went on, and will have powers to require organisations to provide evidence and to compel witnesses to attend, but it cannot rule on or determine anyone’s civil or criminal liability.
Sir Gary stressed the independence of the inquiry, and said the conclusions he reaches “will be my own, informed by evidence and the submissions I receive, and nothing else”.
Counsel to the inquiry Matthew Hill said the inquiry’s legal team between them have experience of major processes such as the Saville Inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday as well as the Hillsborough Inquiry, Post Office Inquiry and the ongoing Southport Inquiry.
He said they have a “formidable task” ahead of them, and will approach it with “independence, humility and determination”.
Danny Friedman KC, acting for the Finucane family, said they know they are not alone in their trauma, but questions around Mr Finucane’s murder are significant in terms of who he was, why and how he was killed, and the failings of the state.
He described some of the issues they raise as perhaps being among the reasons that Northern Ireland today is “post-violence but not post-conflict”.
He concluded: “Pat Finucane’s family, his children, siblings here today say it is high time that the truth was reckoned with.”
Peter Coll KC, acting for the UK Government, said on behalf of ministers and the whole country, he would say again to the Finucane family he was deeply sorry.
He said while they cannot bring their loved one back or erase their deep pain, they commit to help provide answers to the family, and “work together for a better future in Northern Ireland which has made so much progress since those terrible acts”.
Laura McMahon, acting for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), offered her condolences to the Finucane family.
She said current Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has made clear the PSNI will “fully co-operate with the inquiry”.
She said the service has already started a “substantial information management programme” to recover and structure historic records, and has a “clear understanding of its obligations and responsibilities”.
Former detectives Trevor McIlwrath, Alan Simpson and Johnston Brown, who investigated Mr Finucane’s murder, are also represented at the inquiry.
Their counsel Claire Dobbin KC said each of the men has waited years to be able to give evidence in a forum equipped to get to the truth.
“Their investigations were frustrated and impeded by others,” she said.
Earlier, Mr Finucane’s widow Geraldine was accompanied by family who arrived in a large coach at the venue for the inquiry in south Belfast.
Flanked by her sons Michael and John and daughter Katherine, as well as Mr Finucane’s brothers Martin and Dermot, Mrs Finucane said no-one wanted to miss the long-awaited day.
Speaking to the media outside Bradford Court, she said: “As you can see by the number of people who are with me today, this is a monumental day for our family.
“We have waited 37-and-a-half years for this day and not one of us wanted to miss it.
“We fought long and hard to get to the truth, and to get to justice, and that’s what we’re hoping that this inquiry will provide us with.
“We’re hoping that all those questions that have never been fully answered will be answered during the inquiry and it will be thorough, and it will satisfy us, and then we will have closure.”
Mrs Finucane described mixed feelings on the first hearing day, but emphasised she is really glad it is happening after previously fearing it never would.
“I’m hoping for the best as usual, hoping for no more delays, no more obstructions and just so we can get it finished with, and get closure,” she said.
“It’s more about who was pulling the strings, why was Pat targeted, why were we never warned that he was targeted on more than one occasion, who thought it up, why was this strategy put in place.
“These are questions that need to be fully answered, not glided over superficially anymore.
“This is the opportunity to do that and get it right.”
Mrs Finucane added: “Maybe we will find out that what happened to Pat happened to a lot of other people, and maybe we will find out the strategy behind it all and who was responsible.”
The inquiry into the circumstances of Mr Finucane’s death was announced by Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn in 2024.
Last June, the Government announced Sir Gary as chairman of the inquiry.
