Ulster Unionist Peer Lord Empey has hit out at calls for yet another Inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane from several sources including the Leader of the Labour Party, following the Review by Sir Desmond de Silva which reported yesterday and welcomed assurances from Lord Strathclyde that the Government did not expect any further report to yield more information.

Lord Empey highlighted the cost and time spent on the six cases which came out of the Weston Park talks and warned that if another Inquiry were to be opened into the Finucane murder then he had a list of “at least 13 other cases involving multiple deaths over a very long time that have just been completely airbrushed out of history.”

These include the Abercorn bombing, Bloody Friday, the Birmingham and Guildford pub bombings, Tullyvallen, Kingsmills, La Mon, Droppin Well, Darkley Gospel Hall, Ballygawley, Teebane, the Shankill Bombing, Greysteel and Loughinisland. This list is of course not exhaustive and to this we could add the Omagh bombing.

Speaking in the House of Lords on Wednesday night, Lord Empey said:

“My Lords, I have been reading the report since 8.30 am. I do not understand how the Official Opposition can come to the conclusion that another inquiry is needed when there are over 800 pages to be gone through. The inquiries into the six cases that flowed from Weston Park have required very substantial amounts of expenditure and effort put into finding the truth.

Is the Leader of the House aware that if there is to be another inquiry into this case-and I am seeking his assurance now that that will not happen-I have a list of at least 13 other cases involving multiple deaths over a very long time that have just been completely airbrushed out of history?”

Lord Empey continued, “I asked the Minister for an assurance that we are going to stop this process of ongoing and never-ending inquiries and concentrate on building a genuinely shared future, where we move forward instead of raking over the coals of the past for ever and was heartened by the response from Lord Strathclyde.

I welcomed the comments from Lord Strathclyde who said I was “entirely correct” in what I said and confirmed that the Government “would not expect any further report to yield more information.” I also welcome his comments that “there is a time for us to deal with the past but it is even more important for us to deal with the problems of the future and to engage more and more in maintaining a level of peace for the people for Northern Ireland-all the people of Northern Ireland-so that they can prosper.”