A long-awaited report into the 1989 murder of the Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane will be published on Wednesday, December 12, the Northern Ireland Office has confirmed.
Experienced senior counsel Sir Desmond de Silva QC re-examined the evidence into the shooting in north Belfast.
The murder of the Catholic father-of-three was one of the most controversial of the Northern Ireland Troubles, with allegations that the British state colluded with Protestant paramilitaries to facilitate the killing.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has accepted collusion took place and has apologized to the Finucane family.
But the solicitor’s relatives have been critical of the review ordered by Cameron, claiming it falls long short of the full public inquiry they have long campaigned for.
Sir Desmond has said his report will included previously highly classified documents relating to the murder.
Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers outlined the timetable for publication this week. She is due to make a statement to the House of Commons on the day the report is published.
Two weeks ago she said a thorough check prior to publication was necessary to rule out security breaches.
She said highly sensitive material given by the government to Sir Desmond would not be included. This follows concerns about identifying sources, she said.
She added that the British government had a legal obligation to examine the report to make sure lives and national security were not endangered. The report would be published as soon as possible after the security checks and the Finucane family would be offered the chance to see it first.
But Finucane relatives, who have been critical of the review from the outset, said the security exercise should have been done by the courts. They claimed the government security check would further undermine the credibility of the document.
Finucane’s son John said it was not appropriate for the state to control the information published in a report that was supposed to be examining its alleged role in a murder.
He said at the time, “This confirms again that the government, who on the one hand are being accused of collusion in the murder of my father, and the prime minister has accepted that there was collusion, controls the flow of information - which I don't think is credible.
“It is not a process that I think is independent. We think that process is best managed by a court.”
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.DanOLoingsigh | Dec 03, 2012, 06:09 PM EST
CurtisJ ignores the fact that unionists have lived in NI far longer than most Irish-Americans have lived in their adopted homeland…terms like ‘baying squatter crowds’ demonstrate his disdain for this group… and swallowing the myth that the IRA fought an honourable war is just one of many in his twisted view…
IrelandNorth | Dec 03, 2012, 06:41 AM EST
To paraphrase Roger Garland, one time leader of Ireland's Green Party: "Fine words butter no parsnips!" ie eloquence doesn't put food on the table. Apologies are rarely worth the paper they should have been written on, or bring people back to life. Actions speak louder than words. "National (sic) security". The crux of the problem since that papal bull Laudibiliter. I repeat my dialectical formulae for the hard of hearing: British imperialism was the cause - republican paramilitarism the reaction - loyalist paramiliatarism the counterreaction - and Christian atonement and forebearance is the cure.
seamus60 | Dec 03, 2012, 05:45 AM EST
Realist. The IRA after finally admitting responsability for the dissapeared have said the executions were carried out against informers. Unlike loyalist groups who have openly admitted a policy of killing any inocent Catholic in order to pressurise republican violence to and end. They claim this is what brought republicans to the table.
maireadinmelb | Dec 03, 2012, 05:43 AM EST
Justice delayed is justice denied!
Realist | Dec 03, 2012, 05:13 AM EST
curtisjohnson: "The IRA didn't coordinate the kidnapping and ritual torture of non-combatants"? Lol....I think you need to read a little more about Jean McConville and the other "Disappeared" my friend. By the way, please clarify who precisely are the "indigenous population" in Northern Ireland (and while you're at it, who, pray tell, are the 'non-indigenous population'). I would be keen to read your explainations of these terms.
curtisjohnson | Dec 02, 2012, 11:33 PM EST
Keep dreaming Dano. The IRA didn't coordinate the kidnapping and ritual torture of non-combatants before baying squatter crowds. The indignous population didn't engage in pogroms. Typical of the british terror state to hide behind some facade of legal legitimacy with their show trials while at the same time colluding in/coordinating the murders of anyone undertaking to represent the indigenous population at which the justice system is directed.
DanOLoingsigh | Dec 02, 2012, 02:52 PM EST
Many Catholics prospered in NI, and many Protestants suffered at the hands of their neighbours…still, let’s not worry over their plight, and ruin a good story, eh?
Rebelforce | Dec 02, 2012, 10:20 AM EST
Imagine for a moment what it must have been like for an Irish-Catholic living in an oppressive statelet where Protestant sectarian police and government colludes with British loyalist terrorists in the murder of Catholics. And some people actually wonder why the IRA's political wing Sinn Fein enjoys such popular support in the Six county dependancy.
lecorri | Dec 02, 2012, 09:04 AM EST
Another whitewash. Until there is an independent review of this murder, the Finucanes will not receive justics
curtisjohnson | Dec 01, 2012, 07:06 PM EST
A stage managed manipulation/alteration/destructions of evidence by the british terror state to exculpate itself. Of course, irrespective of the outcome, the Finucane family will never receive any type of reparations from the terror state (not that any of their victims ever have or ever will).