The government succumbed to public pressure and has established an inquiry which will partially look into the circumstances that led to the murder of Nicolette Ghirxi earlier this month. The inquiry is set to deal with the professional services Ghirxi was offered when she requested help.

Her family is insisting that the inquiry should have a wider scope and cover whether the State carried out its obligations to protect her. The Prime Minister should listen to what the family wants, and launch a public inquiry with a widened scope.

There are some matters which also need to be pointed out.

Once again, the government procrastinated after a tragic event. It should have been more on the ball and take matters in hand immediately after consulting with the family of the victim.

It is not the first time that the government took long to take the necessary action following serious incidents.

We all remember how, for months, it resisted the idea of a public inquiry into the death of Jean Paul Sofia, who died under the rubble of a building under construction that collapsed in Kordin. The government had gone as far as voting against an Opposition motion to establish such an inquiry, only for Prime Minister Robert Abela to change his mind a few days later as a massive public protest was about to start outside his office in Castille.

It is also not the first time that an independent inquiry is taking place following the murder of a woman. When Bernice Cassar was killed in November 2022, an inquiry led by retired judge Geoffrey Valenzia had established that the whole system did not function as it should have because it had not protected someone who had repeatedly asked for protection.

Now we will have another inquiry, which deals with another serious case of domestic issues. The inquiry to be led by another retired judge, Lawrence Quintano, has been given four months by which it has to draw up its report, with the government committing itself to make it public.

Inquiries are welcome, as they always an opportunity to establish what went wrong in a particular circumstance and what could be done to improve, and possibly avoid a repetition. The problem lies after an inquiry is completed – and this is because history has told us that the government has been reluctant to implement the recommendations made.

The most glaring example is that related to the public inquiry that was held after the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The inquiry, led by retired judge Michael Mallia, had scrupulously looked into the heinous killing and came up with a broad list of recommendations to be implemented to make things better. But, here we are, years later, and the report is gathering dust on a shelf.

So, now that an inquiry to look into the murder of Nicolette Ghirxi has been established, we urge the government to take action once it is completed. It is likely that the Ghirxi inquiry will find the same faults which were found by the inquiry into the Bernice Cassar murder. It is also likely that similar recommendations will be made once the Ghirxi inquiry is concluded.

We do hope that, this time, recommendations that are made are implemented. Otherwise, inquiries would be seen as a way for the government to appease the public while having no intention to take the necessary steps to make things better.