The family of a murdered GAA official has criticised the Government’s response to a court ruling that found it was acting unlawfully in failing to order a public inquiry into the killing.
On Wednesday, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn sought leave for a Supreme Court appeal in the Sean Brown case.
Mr Benn has not confirmed he ultimately intends to take the case to the Supreme Court, but applied for “protective leave” to appeal to the UK’s highest court if he believes that course of action to be “necessary”.
Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill branded the move “cruel and inhumane” while Ireland’s deputy premier said the Brown family had already been waiting “far too long” for answers.
Mr Benn has also applied to the Court of Appeal in Belfast for further time to consider its judgment in the Brown case.
He has indicated the outcome of that application, and what transpires during any subsequent extension, if one is granted, will determine his decision-making in respect of a Supreme Court challenge.
Mr Brown, 61, the chairman of Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA club in Co Londonderry, was ambushed, kidnapped and murdered by loyalist paramilitaries as he locked the gates of the club in May 1997.
No-one has ever been convicted of his killing.
Preliminary inquest proceedings last year heard that in excess of 25 people had been linked by intelligence to the murder, including several state agents.
It had also been alleged in court that surveillance of a suspect in the murder was temporarily stopped on the evening of the killing, only to resume again the following morning.
Last month, three judges at the Court of Appeal in Belfast said the Government’s failure to order a public inquiry into the murder “cannot stand” and gave Mr Benn four weeks to “reflect upon the judgment”.
Outside the Court of Appeal, Mr Brown’s 87-year-old widow Bridie had issued a plea to Mr Benn not to challenge judgment at the Supreme Court in London.
However, the Northern Ireland Secretary has now taken steps to give himself that option.
Reacting to the move, Mrs Brown told the Irish News: “I pleaded directly with Hilary Benn not to be appealing Sean’s case to the Supreme Court in London, that he should do what the courts have told him to do.
“He has refused my plea. I’m not surprised but I am bitterly disappointed.”
She added: “I am now terrified as to what secrets the British government are hiding. It seems we just don’t count.”
Mr Brown’s daughter Siobhan branded the NIO’s handling of the announcement on Wednesday as “disgraceful”.
She said she had not even time to inform her mother about the move before Mr Benn appeared on the media announcing his decision at Westminster.
“I hadn’t even got the chance to show that letter to my mother whenever Hilary Benn stood in Westminster and gave a press conference,” she told BBC Radio Ulster.
She added: “It’s totally disgraceful. We were distraught at the fact that this information had been released without the family knowing entirely. Yes, some of us had received it (legal letter sent to the family’s solicitor), but the rest of us were at work. We didn’t get that information straight away and to suddenly hear it being broadcast is disgraceful.
“And, again, it’s just another thing that the Government are trying to do to undermine us as a family and treat us with so much disrespect, which has happened right through the 28 years since my father was murdered.”
The Brown family have waited far too long for truth and justice.
— Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) April 30, 2025
My statement below: pic.twitter.com/JqD0Ff3Sm8
Mr Brown’s daughter said the only acceptable way forward for her family was a public inquiry.
“There’s obviously very dirty secrets there that the Government want to keep from us as a family and they’re going out right, taking all action that they possibly can to prevent that information coming out,” she said.
Mr Benn had brought the case to the Court of Appeal to challenge an earlier ruling by a High Court judge that he must set up a public inquiry into the killing.
The Northern Ireland Secretary contends the case involves a key constitutional principle of who should order public inquiries, the Government or the judiciary.
In regard to Mr Brown’s murder, Mr Benn argues the case could instead be dealt with by a new Troubles investigatory body, the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).
Last year, a coroner halted an inquest into the killing, expressing concern that his ability to examine the case had been “compromised” by the extent of confidential state material being excluded from the proceedings on national security grounds.
The Court of Appeal judges said the limitations of the ICRIR to deal with cases such as Mr Brown’s killing are “apparent”.
The panel of judges said the commission, as it is currently established, is not equipped to deal with cases which involve sensitive material.
Mr Benn has vowed to implement reforms to ensure the new truth recovery body is capable of carrying out an independent and rigorous investigation into the murder of Mr Brown.
The ICRIR was established as part of the previous government’s contentious Legacy Act.
Mr Benn is repealing the Act but is retaining the ICRIR, stating that he wants to improve its disclosure regime and, in specific circumstances, enable the commission to hold public hearings.
