Pat Finucane’s widow unveils legacy mural

By SARAH STACK
Published on 10/12/2012 00:35

A MURAL to commemorate the legacy of murdered Northern Ireland solicitor Pat Finucane has been unveiled just days before a report into his death is published.

The Roman Catholic father of three was shot dead when loyalist gunmen used sledge- hammers to burst in through the front door of his home in north Belfast in February 1989.

His widow, Geraldine, has vowed to keep up a campaign for a full public inquiry into the attack regardless of the findings of the review.

“I am entitled to a public examination of all of the circumstances and explanations from those who are required to give them, no matter how powerful, no matter how influential,” she said. “In short, I am entitled to the truth.”

Mrs Finucane revealed that her late husband had been happiest growing up with his family close to the mural’s site on Beechmount Avenue in west Belfast.

“He probably played in this street as a boy. He would certainly have walked it as a young man,” she told family, friends and supporters at its unveiling.

“This was one of the places he was happiest during his life, as he dreamed of the future. I cannot think of anywhere that would be more appropriate to host a memorial to Pat’s continuing legacy than somewhere so closely linked to his past.”

A review into the 38-year-old’s murder, carried out by Sir Desmond de Silva, is due to be published on Wednesday.

David Cameron has previously accepted collusion took place and apologised to the Finucane family. But Mr Finucane’s widow and relatives have been critical of the £1.5 million review ordered by the Prime Minister, claiming that it falls short of the full public inquiry they demanded.