THE Northern Ireland Office (NIO) announced last week that it will not conduct an independent inquiry into the 1989 murder of Nationalist civil rights attorney Patrick Finucane, claiming that the Finucane family's opposition to the terms of the proposed inquiry as an obstacle. The NIO, in a letter to Finucane's widow Geraldine, said that work conducted in advance of an inquiry had stopped last year because the Finucane's disagreed with the inquiry being held under the Inquiries Act, which allows the British government to withhold information and any findings from the public on grounds of national security.The Finucanes now doubt if an inquiry will be held at all into the death. Finucane, a noted attorney with many Republican clients, was slain by Loyalists in his home, in front of his wife and children. He was 39 years old."On April 7, 2008, my solicitor received a letter from the Northern Ireland Office which stated that, 18 months ago, in the autumn of 2006, a decision was taken by the then secretary of state, Peter Hain, to cease all preparations for an inquiry. We were not informed of this decision at the time," Geraldine Finucane said in a statement last week."This letter stated that the decision was taken because my family refused to accept ministerial control of an inquiry under the notorious Inquiries Act 2005. They appear to be saying that, unless we agree that British government minister should be allowed to control what information the inquiry is permitted to examine in public, there will be no inquiry at all.""Two British secretaries of state and the current prime minister have been in ongoing correspondence with me and my solicitor since early 2006, yet it is only now that they have revealed their decision. My solicitor has written back, demanding to know whether they plan to hold an inquiry or not."An inquiry into the Finucane murder was called for by Justice Peter Cory, a former Canadian Supreme Court judge, four years ago. He was called in by the British and Irish governments in 2001 to investigate a series of controversial cases on both sides of the Border in which collusion was suspected or alleged. In all six he recommended inquiries.A lawyer for Geraldine Finucane has written to Secretary of State Shaun Woodward, claiming that "no reasonable explanation has been provided as to why it is considered possible to conduct the Rosemary Nelson inquiry, which also covers issues of the alleged involvement of members of the British Army and Secret Intelligence Services, while it was claimed that new legislation had to be enacted before a Pat Finucane inquiry could be established."Geraldine Finucane met with outgoing Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern in Dublin last week. Ahern reiterated his support for an inquiry into the murder."Geraldine and the Finucane family have traveled a long and difficult road in their search for the truth," he said."I reiterated the government's continuing support for a public inquiry into Pat's murder. That position has full all-party support in the Dail (Parliament)."