Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC told she should be murdered ‘like Pat Finucane’

Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC

Ms Gallagher, a barrister with Doughty Street Chambers, shared her experience while speaking at an event held in Dublin at the start of the month to mark the awarding of the 2021 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny.

She warned of “a growing trend towards anti-Irish rhetoric in the UK”, which she linked to Brexit, and said she had been physically attacked in her chambers in addition to the threats, the Irish Independent reports.

Ms Gallagher also criticised the UK government, saying: “When you have people at a high level, including the home secretary and the prime minister using language like ‘leftie lawyers’ and talking about irresponsible human right lawyers, this has real-life consequences.”

Pat Finucane, a prominent criminal defence and civil rights lawyer, was shot 14 times by loyalist paramilitaries at his Belfast home on 12 February 1989.

Amnesty International — which has supported the Finucane family’s decades-long campaign for accountability — echoed Ms Gallagher’s call for ministers to step back from rhetoric attacking lawyers and judges.

Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty’s head of nations and regions, said: “We are deeply concerned at these serious threats against Caoilfhionn Gallagher and other lawyers.

“Sadly, we fear that reckless rhetoric from government ministers is putting a target on the backs of lawyers. In Northern Ireland, we have seen where such dangerous talk can lead.

“The legal profession plays a crucial role in upholding the rule of law and defending human rights for everyone in this country. Lawyers and the judges should be defended, not attacked. We appeal to ministers to step back from the irresponsible verbal attacks to which they have been subjecting lawyers and judges in recent times.”