THE FAMILY of murdered Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane has asked the Taoiseach to mention their campaign for an independent inquiry into his death during his address to a Joint Session of Congress in the United States next week.
Mr Finucane's widow, Geraldine Finucane, and other members of the family met Mr Ahern yesterday in Government Buildings to discuss the current impasse in the case - the decision by the Northern Ireland Office to stop preparations for an inquiry.
Last year, when he addressed the joint Houses at Westminster, Mr Ahern referred to several cases in the North that remained unfinished and unresolved.
That was taken as a specific reference to the Finucane case and other cases where there were suspicions of British intelligence and military collusion with the killers.
The family yesterday expressed its frustration with the decision of the Northern Ireland Office to stop preparationsfor the inquiry.
Speaking after the meeting, the Taoiseach said: "I reiterated the Government's continuing support for a public inquiry into Pat's murder. That position has full all-party support in Dáil Éireann," added Mr Ahern.
Meanwhile, the Northern Ireland Office has strongly denied that an inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane has been blocked.
The Finucane family told The Irish Times on Wednesday that plans to hold an inquiry into the murder were put on hold some 18 months ago.
They further said that they only discovered this when they inquired about progress on the case.
A letter addressed to them and shown to The Irish Timescites their opposition to the holding of an inquiry under new legislation which empowers British ministers to withhold inquiry findings for the decision to cease preparations.
However Northern Secretary Shaun Woodward's office said this meant preparations for an inquiry were "on hold rather" than at an end.
In a short statement yesterday, the Northern Ireland Office said: "When the family met his predecessor [ Peter Hain] they made clear their opposition to the inquiry being held under the terms of the 2005 Inquiries Act. We are considering their most recent correspondence on this."