Government rejects call for public inquiry into GAA official’s murder

The Government has said it has decided against establishing a public inquiry into the murder of GAA official Sean Brown 27 years ago.

Mr Brown’s family said they were “devastated” at the decision but pledged that they would not be “going away”.

Sean Brown, 61, was abducted and killed by loyalist paramilitaries as he locked the gates at Bellaghy Wolfe Tones Club in Co Londonderry in May 1997.

No-one has ever been convicted of his murder.

Earlier this year, a coroner said an inquest into Mr Brown’s death could not proceed due to the withholding of sensitive files.

Mr Justice Kinney said his ability to examine Mr Brown’s death had been “compromised” by the extent of confidential State material being excluded from the proceedings on national security grounds.

He said he would write to the Northern Ireland Secretary to call on the Government to establish a public inquiry into the loyalist murder.

In a statement on Friday, the family of Sean Brown said they had “waited patiently” for a reply to that request.

“Our patient dignity and expectation has in the past been grossly abused by the then secretary of state Chris Heaton-Harris and James Cleverly, then home secretary, who far from abiding by the express direction of the High Court to take the opportunity for once in this case to do the right thing, and convene a public inquiry, decided to attack our local judiciary and are actually ignoring the request and instead challenged the decision to issue the limited gist of sensitive information, which was read into the court record on 27 February.

“We are today devastated that (Northern Ireland Secretary) Hilary Benn MP has acted in defiance of the judiciary and has ignored the explicit direction of a High Court judge to convene a public inquiry.

“The State is terrified that their carefully curated official history of the conflict is now being contradicted by judicially endorsed legal facts, hence their attempts to deny victims of access to the courts and access to justice.

“Today’s devastating decision is merely an event in a long and shameful chronology, which must be an eternal embarrassment to the State.

“It is not the end of our journey; we are not going away.

“This is merely a decision which will be challenged, and we will now look forward with renewed enthusiasm and vigour to our judicial review which was already listed for hearing on Thursday 26 and Monday 30 September 2024.

In a statement, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said he concluded a public inquiry was “not the best way to proceed”.

“I have enormous sympathy for Mrs Brown and her family, who have suffered so much since the murder of her husband and their father,” he said.

“I acknowledge their continued search for answers in relation to this case and am grateful to them for meeting me on 28 August.

“I take my responsibility to victims and survivors of the Troubles extremely seriously.

“In reaching this decision, I carefully considered a range of factors, including the views of Mrs Brown and her family, the coroner’s rulings, the Government’s human rights obligations, and important public interest factors.

“Ultimately, I have concluded that an inquiry under the Inquiries Act is not the best way to proceed.

“I recognise that this decision will come as a disappointment to the Brown family.

“I am, however, confident in the Independent Commissioner for Reconciliation and Information Recovery’s (ICRIR) capability to deliver justice, accountability, and information to victims and survivors of the Troubles, and to meet the Government’s human rights obligations, particularly given the Northern Ireland High Court’s ruling.

“I would therefore encourage Mrs Brown and her family to meet with Sir Declan (Morgan) and the ICRIR to hear how the independent Commission would approach any investigation into Mr Brown’s death.”

Sinn Fein MLA Emma Sheerin said the decision was “callous”, and accused the Government of trying to enact a “nothing-to-see here” policy.

“The only way to establish the full extent of what happened to Sean is through an independent statutory public inquiry,” the Mid Ulster MLA said.

“This callous decision by the British Secretary of State Hilary Benn flies in the face of his government’s commitment to support victims and families and to work with them on an agreed way forward for legacy.”

She added: “The ICRIR is not a credible alternative to a public inquiry, as stated by the coroner, and does not posses the powers to effectively investigate Sean Brown’s murder.

“All victims deserve access to truth and justice and Sinn Fein will continue to stand with the Brown family in their pursuit of this.”

On Tuesday, Mr Benn announced that a public inquiry would be established into the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane, who was shot dead in front of his family at their Belfast home in 1989.

The attack, carried out by the Ulster Defence Association, was found by a series of probes to have involved collusion with the state.

Mr Benn said he based the decision on the “exceptional reason” that a UK government had committed more than 20 years ago to hold an inquiry into Mr Finucane’s murder, which had remained “unfulfilled”.