Belfast Telegraph
ADRIAN RUTHERFORD
FORMER Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told US diplomats that "everyone knows" the UK was involved in the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane, according to a leaked embassy cable.
The Catholic human rights lawyer was shot dead in one of the most controversial killings of the Troubles, amid allegations that the security forces colluded with the loyalist gang which carried out the 1989 murder.
A decision on whether a public inquiry will be held into the case will be announced by the British government later this year.
Mr Ahern's comments are reported in a cable written by James Kenny, the former US Ambassador to Ireland, in June 2005.
It followed a briefing to the former Taoiseach by Mitchell Reiss, the US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland. According to the "confidential" document, Mr Ahern called for the UK to provide evidence "acknowledging its involvement in Finucane's murder". He said the Irish government wanted to know "how high in the UK government collusion went".
Mr Ahern reportedly said that if the UK were to provide the information, it would only grab the headlines for a few hours because "everyone knows the UK was involved".
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