The widow of murdered Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane has described the first day of a long-awaited 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, an attack that multiple probes found involved state collusion.
Decades of campaigning
The Finucane family has campaigned for decades for a public inquiry to establish the full extent of security force involvement. Geraldine Finucane, accompanied by her sons Michael and John, daughter Katherine, and her husband's brothers Martin and Dermot, arrived at the inquiry venue in south Belfast in a large coach.
Family's hopes for truth and justice
Speaking to media outside Bradford Court, Mrs Finucane 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.'
Inquiry details
The inquiry into the circumstances of Mr Finucane's death was announced by Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn in 2024. Last June, the Government appointed senior judge Sir Gary Hickinbottom as chairman. The first hearing on Tuesday is described as a 'procedural hearing which will provide an opportunity to introduce the public to the inquiry'.
