The family of murdered GAA official Seán Brown has said they are “devastated” after learning the UK government has refused to grant a public inquiry into the sectarian killing.
The decision was confirmed in a letter issued by Northern Secretary Hilary Benn to the family’s legal team on Friday.
It comes six months after a coroner in Northern Ireland requested that the UK government establish a public inquiry as an inquest could not proceed due to the extent of sensitive state files being withheld on national security grounds.
The Brown family said it will challenge the decision.
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Mr Brown was locking the gates at Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA club in Co Derry in May 1997 when he was abducted and murdered by loyalist paramilitaries. No one has ever been convicted.
In a statement, the family accused Mr Benn of “ignoring the explicit direction” of coroner Mr Justice Kinney to convene a public inquiry.
Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tánaiste Micheál Martin also backed calls for the inquiry while PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boucher said he would not stand in its way, pledging “unfettered access” to all material and police files connected to the case.
“We are today devastated that Hilary Benn MP has acted in defiance of the judiciary,” the family said.
“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 26th and Monday September 30th, 2024.”
The development comes two days after Mr Benn announced a public inquiry into the 1989 murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane, citing the “exceptional reason” of an unfulfilled commitment by the UK government 20 years ago to establish an inquiry.
In his letter to the Brown family, Mr Benn said he recognised the decision “will come as a disappointment to Mrs Brown and her family”.
“I would like to assure you that it is a decision that has been carefully made in full consideration of the facts available to me as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland,” he said.
Mr Benn said he believed the body set up to investigate Troubles-era crimes, the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), was capable of discharging the UK government’s human rights obligations.
The family’s solicitor, Niall Murphy of KRW Law, said they are opposed to an ICRIR probe.
“We must remind ourselves of the extraordinary circumstances which give rise to the fact that Hilary Benn MP was today obliged to make a decision on whether or not to convene a public inquiry,” Mr Murphy said.
“He was directed by the High Court to make this decision, following the courageous judicial review proceedings lodged by Seán’s widow Bridie (88) to compel such a decision. Today’s decision is not made in a vacuum.”
Before Mr Brown’s inquest ended earlier this year, it heard that up to 25 people, some of whom were state agents, had been linked through intelligence to the murder of Mr Brown – the first time the family’s suspicions of collusion were officially confirmed.
The details were disclosed in public-interest immunity hearings, which were held behind closed doors.
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