What is known is that in the eyes of many in Northern Ireland, Rosemary Nelson was a prominent target, not because of who she was, but because of whom she represented. Nelson, 40, was the first woman in Lurgan to set up her own practice, and over the years she represented many local clients in the mundane matters typical of the sole general practitioner.

But, as part of her local practice, she also took on a small number of controversial cases in which she represented high profile Catholics clients. Those cases involved efforts to

1. prevent Protestant marches through Catholic neighborhoods,
2. seek redress for the death of a family member at the hands of a loyalist mob in plain view of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (Northern Ireland's police force), and
3. successfully reverse the conviction of a person incarcerated for the murder of a member of the security forces.

Last spring, Colin Port, Deputy Chief Constable of the Norfolk Constabulary, was brought from England to conduct an investigation into the Nelson murder and the broader allegations of security force collusion. A few days ago, a former member of the Northern Ireland security forces was arrested for questioning in connection with the Nelson murder. To date, this person has not been charged. His arrest has increased speculation that members of the security forces may have encouraged or facilitated Nelson's murder.

As a result, an international array of respected legal bodies and human rights organizations, including the United Nations and the United States Congress, have called for an independent inquiry.

The controversy surrounding Nelson's death and the ongoing murder investigation is similar to the killing of another successful Catholic solicitor, Patrick Finucane, in 1989. Finucane, who represented prominent Nationalists and republicans, was shot to death at his Belfast home in front of his family during their Sunday dinner. As with the Nelson murder, a loyalist paramilitary group claimed responsibility. As with Nelson, Finucane had received death threats via his clients from the loyalist community and the RUC. And, as with Nelson, significant questions arose regarding possible security force involvement in facilitating his murder.

Last year, the Finucane murder investigation was reopened for a second time, headed by London Metropolitan Police Chief John Stevens. Since this third investigation began, the RUC has arrested almost a dozen individuals, including William Stobie for Finucane's murder. Three others have been charged with various offenses. And two months ago, Stevens sent the files of six individuals to the Director of Public Prosecutions with recommendations that they be charged with murder. These individuals are all pro-British paramilitary members. According to one British newspaper, The Independent, the evidence collected to date on these six persons, which includes DNA samples, tape recordings, and witness accounts, is "...believed to support claims that Royal Ulster Constabulary officers failed to prevent the hit, despite being warned about the imminent killing." Stevens does not expect to submit a report about official collusion until 2001.

The June, 1999 arrest and charging of William Stobie for Finucane's murder has fueled many of these collusion concerns. When charged, Stobie revealed that he had been an RUC police informer at the time of the murder. During his bail hearing, his lawyer revealed that in 1990 Stobie was interviewed for more than 40 hours by members of the RUC. These interviews, which included Stobie's confession to supplying the weapons used in the murder, were transcribed and have been available to the authorities since 1990. These transcripts, among other things, identify the names of the RUC members warned by Stobie about the murder. Nevertheless, the authorities never charged Stobie with murder, and separate firearms charges against him were dropped in 1991.

Current murder charges against Stobie are still pending, and no action on his case is expected until April. Given the high profile of the Finucane and Nelson cases, and the history of retribution carried out against discovered informers in Northern Ireland, Stobie's safety is perilous. Despite Stobie's immense value in potentially solving the mysteries surrounding Finucane's murder, the United Kingdom legal authorities have taken no measure to date ensure his safety. Consequently, he lives at risk, and the case dangles in legal and political limbo, as it has since Finucane's murder over a decade ago. Calls for an independent inquiry have increased, most recently from the Irish government.

Regrettably, Catholic legal professionals do not have a monopoly on deaths and suffering during the past 30 years of conflict. Seven Protestant/Unionist judges have been killed or seriously wounded by republican paramilitaries: seven cases of which only two have resulted in convictions. In the last thirty years of over 3,600 deaths, some dramatic, some barely noticed, the legal profession, as with every other avenue of Northern Ireland society, has not been immune. Given the current status of the Nelson and Finucane murder investigations, and the overall working conditions for Northern Ireland defense attorneys, these deaths will persist without international attention and assistance.