Felix the Cat
02-14-2006, 03:54 AM
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=679147
The widow of murdered lawyer Pat Finucane said she found "common ground" with DUP leader Ian Paisley during a ground-breaking meeting at Stormont this morning.
After speaking to Mr Paisley for the first time about her family's fight for an inquiry into the collusion around the murder, Geraldine Finucane said they had "a very good meeting".
"It was very open and he made it very clear that he was there to hear what we had to say," she said.
"We covered a lot of ground and the more we covered we realised we covering common ground more than anything else."
Her eldest son, Michael, added: "It went very well. It was a cordial meeting.
"There were a lot of points he didn't disagree with, but he said he would prefer to consider them and respond in his own way and in his own time."
The Finucanes met the DUP to discuss their objections to the Government's terms for an inquiry in to the killing.
The meeting - which took place 17 years and a day after the murder - is the latest in a series the family has held to highlight their position.
After years of campaigning for an inquiry by the family, the Government agreed when reports by a judge and Britain's most senior policeman said members of the security forces had colluded with Mr Finucane's UDA killers.
But new legislation, known as the Inquiries Act, was passed in order to hold the Finucane inquiry under different conditions, where ministers could order that some material remain secret.
Mr Finucane's family objected to those terms and are now attempting to highlight that they still want an inquiry into the murder - only without the Government's secrecy clauses.
The family have run a worldwide campaign - so far successful - to get judges to refuse to run the inquiry under those terms.
Retired Canadian Supreme Court Justice Peter Cory, who investigated the case and recommended the inquiry, said he could not see "any self-respecting Canadian judge" agreeing to take on the case under the Inquiries Act.
Last week Mrs Finucane met Secretary of State Peter Hain about the case and accused him of pandering to security agencies.
The family's campaign has also included talks with the Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey and the Irish government.
The widow of murdered lawyer Pat Finucane said she found "common ground" with DUP leader Ian Paisley during a ground-breaking meeting at Stormont this morning.
After speaking to Mr Paisley for the first time about her family's fight for an inquiry into the collusion around the murder, Geraldine Finucane said they had "a very good meeting".
"It was very open and he made it very clear that he was there to hear what we had to say," she said.
"We covered a lot of ground and the more we covered we realised we covering common ground more than anything else."
Her eldest son, Michael, added: "It went very well. It was a cordial meeting.
"There were a lot of points he didn't disagree with, but he said he would prefer to consider them and respond in his own way and in his own time."
The Finucanes met the DUP to discuss their objections to the Government's terms for an inquiry in to the killing.
The meeting - which took place 17 years and a day after the murder - is the latest in a series the family has held to highlight their position.
After years of campaigning for an inquiry by the family, the Government agreed when reports by a judge and Britain's most senior policeman said members of the security forces had colluded with Mr Finucane's UDA killers.
But new legislation, known as the Inquiries Act, was passed in order to hold the Finucane inquiry under different conditions, where ministers could order that some material remain secret.
Mr Finucane's family objected to those terms and are now attempting to highlight that they still want an inquiry into the murder - only without the Government's secrecy clauses.
The family have run a worldwide campaign - so far successful - to get judges to refuse to run the inquiry under those terms.
Retired Canadian Supreme Court Justice Peter Cory, who investigated the case and recommended the inquiry, said he could not see "any self-respecting Canadian judge" agreeing to take on the case under the Inquiries Act.
Last week Mrs Finucane met Secretary of State Peter Hain about the case and accused him of pandering to security agencies.
The family's campaign has also included talks with the Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey and the Irish government.