Patrick Finucane

Lord Reid of Cardowan Excerpts

Tuesday 30th July 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I am familiar with the point that the noble Lord has made. The Government are giving careful consideration to the recent rulings and requests for public inquiries in these cases. A decision to establish a public inquiry will be taken only after full consideration of the specific individual factors of each case. The Secretary of State is very concerned to ensure that the Government make decisions in these cases as soon as possible.

[Lord Reid of Cardowan (Lab)]

My Lords, I welcome my noble friend to her position; I also welcome the Statement and the engagement of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. This has been a long-running problem, I think since 1989. It is true that the campaign has been kept alive, not least by the stalwart efforts of Geraldine Finucane. It is time that it was brought to some sort of closure. I therefore commend the Secretary of State for his engagement with the Finucane family, because, without that, I do not think that we will never reach closure.

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for the points that he made and assure him that I will make sure that my right honourable friend the Secretary of State is aware of his comments, given his extensive experience in Northern Ireland.