Barrett's guilty plea removed the one obstacle the British said stood in the way of Judge Cory's recommended inquiry, writes Dan Keenan
"You're here to take me out." According to prosecuting counsel, these were the final words of Pat Finucane as he looked his killers in the eye before his murder. He was shot 14 times as his family had Sunday dinner and died on the floor, his fork still in his hand.
Fifteen years later no member of the family that witnessed that horror was present in Court No 12, at the new Laganside complex, to see Shankill loyalist Ken Barrett own up to the killing. For them, an admission of murder by a UDA man is not the issue. What really counts is the unmasking of those in the police, British army and their political controllers who facilitated this murder and countless others - all victims of the so-called "dirty war".
Like the Finucanes, nationalist politicians see a succession of guilty pleas by Barrett not as closure of a bloody chapter, but a continuation of a saga of deceit and cover-up.
"Courtroom" and "drama" are frequently linked to form an enduring cliche. But what was notable about the events in court yesterday was the almost ordinary manner in which Barrett owned up to a litany of offences, and in which prosecuting counsel listed the evidence against him. The case was put without challenge and, although counsel for the accused may make submissions on Friday, the judge may well be in a position to pass judgment and sentence.
An application for early release is expected by some and, as the RUC detective who taped the accused's admissions said yesterday, Ken Barrett could be freed on licence for the rest of his life thanks to the Belfast Agreement. However, it is not known if the agreement's terms will apply to Barrett, given that the UDA's ceasefire has since been dismissed as bogus.
Det Sgt "Jonty" Brown said Barrett was the "most sinister" man he had ever encountered. "We have a funny style of justice here," he said outside the court. "Around the world they go after terrorists, here we put them into government." Nonetheless, even he can accept this "if it helps the peace process".
Whether the events from Court 12 help anything is far from certain at this stage.
Yesterday's understated "drama" certainly did not help members of the Finucane family, who continue to view this prosecution as a distraction.
They accuse the British government of failing to seek out the truth of this murder in particular, and all killings by loyalists with RUC and British army collaboration in general.
The British government has indeed done what it said it would do - but not just yet.
It agreed during the talks at Weston Park to appoint a judge to investigate the Finucane case and others allegedly involving collusion, and to abide by the judge's findings.
Judge Peter Cory found there was a case to answer and recommended an inquiry. However, he went further and said the Finucane case was one of those rare instances where it would be worth it to forget about a prosecution in the interests of facilitating a bigger and wider inquiry.
In doing so he effectively sided with the Finucanes against the state. They fervently believe that what matters is not the sentencing of Ken Barrett, but the revelation of the extent to which British security forces colluded with loyalist paramilitaries.
They also want to trace just how far up the chain of political command the responsibility for such a policy runs.
Ken Barrett's succession of virtually inaudible guilty pleas in court yesterday removed the opportunity for hearing details of collusion, at least in open court.
At the same time it also removed the one obstacle the British government said stood in the way of Judge Cory's recommended inquiry.
The state now has some options: to allow that inquiry to go ahead and run the risk of the details of the "dirty war" coming out; to prevent a wider inquiry by bringing new prosecutions; or to allow that inquiry to proceed while seeking to convict other suspects along the chain of conspiracy.