NORTH Belfast MP John Finucane has criticised a Conservative MP for his remarks in the House of Commons which referred to "the activities of IRA lawyers in the courts”.
David Davis, who is MP for Goole and Pocklington, made the remarks on Tuesday during a debate on amendments to the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill.
Mr Finucane's father Pat was shot dead by the UDA on February 12 1989 in one of the most high-profile cases of British state collusion during the Troubles. The human rights lawyer's murder came weeks after a similar statement was made in the House of Commons by another Conservative MP.
In his letter, John Finucane also makes reference to the murder of solicitor Rosemary Nelson who was murdered by loyalists in 1999, and calls on Mr Davis to withdraw his remarks.
"I remember meeting you in a Belfast courtroom in 2019. I was representing a journalist arrested by the PSNI after exposing collusion in the Loughinisland massacre. You attended in support, speaking passionately about justice, accountability and the rule of law.
"I listened then as you spoke of those principles. Yesterday, you demonstrated how little they appear to matter when it comes to Irish victims seeking accountability from the British state.
"In January 1989, your Conservative colleague Douglas Hogg stood in Westminster and made similarly sinister 'IRA lawyers' remarks about solicitors. Less than four weeks later, my father, Pat Finucane, was murdered by loyalists acting in collusion with British state forces.
"I was eight-years-old. I watched my father being shot dead in front of me, in our family home.
"I grew up without my father. I became a solicitor, following in his footsteps, because I believed, as he did, in the rule of law. In the right of every person to legal representation. In the right of victims to challenge the powerful, including the state itself.
"And that is what makes your words so contemptible.
"Would you dare speak about English solicitors in this way? Or do you believe Irish lawyers deserve less protection, less respect and fewer rights when they dare to challenge the British state?
"The lawyers you seek to discredit are doing precisely what you once claimed to defend: using the law to hold power to account. They represent families who have endured murder, collusion, cover-ups and decades of obstruction.
"We know where this language can lead. My family knows. Rosemary Nelson's family knows. But we are not living in 1989. We are building a new Ireland founded on equality, rights and justice. We will not be intimidated, silenced or dragged backwards by the prejudices of British politicians.
"Shame on you, David. Withdraw your words. Apologise to my family, to Rosemary Nelson's family, and to the lawyers and victims whose pursuit of justice you have sought to discredit. And have the decency to own the disgrace of what you said."
The President of the Law Society of Northern Ireland, Mark Borland, has also called on Mr Davis to withdraw the remarks.
“I am deeply concerned by this characterisation of legal professionals in the House of Commons," he said. "We all recall remarks made in January 1989 when Junior Minister Douglas Hogg claimed in the House of Commons that some solicitors in Northern Ireland were ‘unduly sympathetic to the cause of the IRA’. Three weeks later solicitor Pat Finucane was shot dead at his home. The Report of the Stevens Inquiry concluded that Mr Hogg’s comments were unjustified.
“I am therefore concerned about the impact that these comments could have on our members while tensions are currently high in Northern Ireland. Language that associates legal professionals with paramilitary organisations or associates lawyers with the views of their clients is grossly irresponsible; it risks encouraging hostility towards practitioners carrying out their professional duties and it undermines basic principles relating to access to justice and respect for the rule of law.
“Solicitors are routinely and unacceptably subject to threats, abuse and attack in the course of their work. Comments such as these make our members more vulnerable and Mr Davis should withdraw them.
“There is a legitimate debate about how best to address the legacy of the past. Stigmatising lawyers has absolutely no part in it.”
