Pat Finucane

Patrick Finucane (21 March 1949 – 12 February 1989), commonly known as Pat Finucane, was an Irish lawyer primarily specialising in criminal defence work, who was well-known for acting for members of the Irish Republican Army. He was killed by loyalist paramilitaries from the Ulster Defence Association acting in collusion with the British government intelligence service MI5. In 2011 British Prime Minister David Cameron met with Pat Finucane's family and admitted the collusion, although no member of the British security services has yet been prosecuted. Finucane's killing was one of the most controversial during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Finucane came to prominence due to successfully challenging the British government in several important human rights cases during the 1980s. He was shot fourteen times as he sat eating a meal at his Belfast home with his three children and his wife, who was also wounded during the attack. In September 2004, an Ulster Defence Association member, and at the time of the murder a paid informant for the Royal Ulster Constabulary, Ken Barrett, pleaded guilty to his murder. After much international pressure, the British government eventually announced that an inquiry would be held. This was one result of an agreement made between the British and Irish governments at Weston Park in 2001. The British government said it would comply with the terms agreed by the two governments at Weston Park. They agreed to appoint an international judge that would review Finucane's case and if evidence of collusion was found, a public inquiry would be recommended. The British government reneged on this promise to Finucane's family after the international judge found evidence of collusion. The Daily Telegraph quoted an unnamed source who claimed Prime Minister David Cameron said "[there are] people in buildings all around here who won’t let it happen". Two public investigations concluded that elements of the British security forces colluded in Finucane's murder and there have been high-profile calls for a public inquiry. However, in October 2011, it was announced that a planned public inquiry would be replaced by a less wide-ranging review. This review, led by Desmond Lorenz de Silva, released a report in December 2012 acknowledging that the case entailed "a wilful and abject failure by successive Governments". Finucane's family called the De Silva report a "sham". In February 2019, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ruled in agreement with the Finucane family, finding unanimously that the UK had failed to uphold article 2 of the European convention on human rights, which among other things obliges signatories to adequately investigate state-caused deaths.