The Finucane family has denied they are receiving preferential treatment after being granted a public inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane. 

The solicitor was shot dead by loyalist paramilitaries in Belfast 1989 - in an attack which it has long been alleged there was State collusion.

His son, John Finucane, said getting an official investigation into what happened has not been easy.

“We’ve had to fight in courts - domestic and international,” the Belfast North MP said. 

“My mother has not only had to deal with being a widow and raising three young children but she’s had to travel the world to gain support which we were lucky enough to have. 

“Every single bit of progress over a painful 35-and-a-half-years has been hard fought.” 

Today is for my father, Pat Finucane.

The announcement that there will now be a public inquiry into his murder is very much welcomed by our family.

Led by my mother Geraldine, we have campaigned for decades to uncover the truth behind my father’s murder.

I want to thank… pic.twitter.com/NWl3ikaSF6

— John Finucane MP (@johnfinucane) September 11, 2024

Northern Ireland’s Secretary of State Hillary Benn said the Finucane family deserved a public inquiry having previously been promised one. 

"The plain fact is two decades on the commitment made by the government - first in the agreement with the Irish government, then in this house - to establish an inquiry into the death of Mr Finucane remains unfulfilled," Mr Benn told the British Parliament.

"It is for this exceptional reason I've decided to establish an independent inquiry under the 2005 Inquiries Act."

The announcement was welcomed by First Minister Michelle O’Neill but DUP leader Gavin Robinson raised concern that a public inquiry for the Finucane family would "heap further hurt on the families who have never had anyone convicted of their loved one’s murder".

Main image: John Finucane. Picture by: Liam McBurney/PA Wire/PA Images

Reporting by James Wilson and Alan Cantwell.