Finucane decision shows nature of British rule has not changed

Statement by Republican Sinn Féin Publicity Officer Ruairí Og Ó Brádaigh.

The decision of the British Six-County Public Prosecution Service that no retired or serving members of the British Crown forces will be prosecuted for the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane clearly illustrates that the nature of British rule in Ireland has not changed. The leopard does not change his spots. 

Despite findings by the Steven's Inquiry that there was collusion between loyalist death squads and the British state, no prosecutions have been brought against British Crown forces members. It has also emerged that a gun handed back to RUC informer and UDA member William Stobie by the RUC was used in the murder of a nationalist man in December 1991 and in the murders of five nationalists at Sean Graham's bookmakers on Belfast's Ormeau Road in February 1992.  

British rule in Ireland is, by its very nature, undemocratic and based on violence and fear. Republican Sinn Féin join the Finucane family in calling for a full public inquiry into Pat Finucane's murder. We share their view that the terms of the present inquiry will prevent the truth from being established. Ending British rule and creating a new Ireland based on the principles of all-Ireland democracy is the only means of ending the cycle of conflict caused by English occupation.