THE murder of Belfast human rights lawyer Pat Finucane “stinks to the high heavens”, according to Martin McGuinness.
Speaking exclusively to The Irish Post at the Sinn Féin summer reception at the House of Commons, the North of Ireland’s Deputy First Minister said that his 1989 murder is one that should be addressed by both the British and Irish Governments.
He also said the overall issue of collusion needs to be addressed – with Mr Finucane’s one of an undetermined number of murders by loyalist forces that involved plotting with MI5.
His was also one of the cases that was the included in a recent RTÉ documentary, Collusion.
“The recent programme on RTÉ has clearly shown the extent of collusion and I think that certainly requires a response from both the Irish and British Governments,” Deputy McGuinness said.
“The lid has been taken off the can of worms and the worms are starting to crawl out now.”
Pat Finucane died on February 12, 1989, after being shot 14 times by a masked assailant outside his East Belfast home.
The killer broke down the front door of Mr Finucane’s home with a sledgehammer before shooting him twice, knocking him over. He then shot him 12 more times in the face at close range.
It would be 14 years later before the British Government admitted that there was collusion between its secret service and the loyalist paramilitaries.
Since the documentary aired on RTÉ last month, there have been fresh calls for an independent public inquiry to be carried out.
The families of victims such as Pat Finucane have been campaigning for several years to get an inquiry held – but a judge in Belfast ruled that there would be no public inquiry held.
“The Pat Finucane murder absolutely stinks to the high heavens,” Mr McGuinness said of the collusion. “And I think it requires a response from both governments.”
Meanwhile, Mr McGuinness also revealed that the Thatcher administration was a government that even his British counterparts expressed doubt in.
“I remember Gerry Adams and I on quite a number of occasions came over here on a Saturday below the radar and met with Tony Blair,” he said. “He conceded that the Thatcher administration took the ‘all is fair in love and war’ and that she authorised things he never would have in Ireland.”
Allegations of collusion during the Troubles by the British Government have been widely condemned.
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