Brian Stanley Demands Public Inquiry into Sean Brown Murder

Thanks, Cairlock, and I'm astonished to the question I'm asking is in relation to what pressure has been put into the British Government regarding having a public inquiry in relation to the murder of Sean Brown, a GAA official, on the 19th of April 1997 at Drummond E Road, Balahi, when he was closing the GAA club. This was a hard-working member of the local community, had done huge voluntary work on behalf of the GAA and indeed in the community, he was highly respected, and I know from people who were living on Drummond E Road at the time, there was shock and horror indeed in that area, and the wider Balahi area at what happened. Thank you, Cairlock. Thank you, Deputy Stanley. I met with Sean Brown's family just over two weeks ago, in fact I met with them on what was the 28th anniversary of his murder. I was really struck by Bridey Brown, struck by the family, struck by the absolute anguish, pain, hurt that they've been put through, and this family have shown enormous strength, enormous resilience in pursuing this case. I commend them for their tireless campaign for truth, transparency and accountability over the last 28 years, and I reiterated to them when we met that I will continue to use any influence that I have now and at every point and that of the Irish Government to bring about a resolution that is acceptable to them. They want a public inquiry, they deserve a public inquiry, they need a public inquiry. The various investigations conducted since the murder have failed to provide the answers needed by the Brown family. They have waited far too long for the truth. I raised the case of Sean Brown with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in our first call after I took office in January. I have raised it again in a number of subsequent calls most recently at the end of last week. I also discussed the issue with the Secretary of State at a meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference at Hillsborough Castle last month. As I said when I was in Belfast last week to meet with party leaders, it has been the long-established position of the Irish Government that the Brown family must have access to a mechanism which is compliant with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This is something that has never once been provided to them. That is not just my view. It is my view. It is not just my view. It is also the view of the courts in the North as well. The courts in Northern Ireland have made clear their view that the Independent Commission on Reconciliation and Information Recovery as established by the UK Legacy Act cannot offer that remedy and that a public inquiry is currently the only mechanism available which can do so. Can I also say this? This case is exceptional in a number of respects. I know there is a lot of hurt in Northern Ireland. I know there are a lot of victims in Northern Ireland. I know there are a lot of unanswered questions in terms of truth, justice and accountability. I do know that. But this case does have some particular exceptional characteristics. It includes the rulings of Northern Ireland's High Court and Court of Appeal, which identifies a public inquiry as the only remedy, the material released by the Coroner's Court linking agents of the UK state to the murder, and the repeated frustration of a thorough investigation of the case by state agencies. These are important elements. So my department participated in the supervision of a review of the case following the report of the police ombudsman, which did not receive the information subsequently found by the Coroner. Information was withheld from various investigations to date. So I will continue to raise this case with the Secretary of State in my discussions. I will continue to keep in close contact with the Brown family and their representatives and with political representatives in this House and Northern Ireland, for whom I know this is an issue of utmost importance, as it is for me. Thanks, Arne, for your answer. I am happy to hear that in relation to the engagements you are having already on that. I mentioned that Sean Brown had a great reputation locally as a hard-working member of the local community and throughout the country in relation to the JAA. I want to commend the JAA for taking up this issue and the thousands of people that filled the roads and streets around Bellaghy only just in the last couple of weeks. There was evidence of collusion here. The convoy, he was abducted, he was carried in the convoy. That passed under cameras at Toonbridge, Toonbridge police station, RUC station that was then. It's no longer there. This fits in with the British counter-insurgency strategy that was set out by Frank Kitson 30 years earlier. And it's sad to say that. It was the tail end of it, coming up against the Good Friday Agreement. And it's a clear strategy to actually lower the demands of the nationalist community. So I just think it's able to carry out these actions by keeping my arms linked. Great credit to the family. I would just urge you to do everything you can at North-South meetings, intergovernmental conferences, that has taken up continuously with the Secretary of State. And could you confirm if the Taoiseach has taken it up with Keir Starmer? We do have better relations now between Britain and Ireland. And that's welcome with the new government in England. You know, it's better than it was. There's a number of matters now that are being dealt with. It wasn't being dealt with for a number of years. And just there's an opportunity there, I think, between the two Prime Ministers, the Taoiseach and the Prime Minister of Britain, to try and reach agreement on this. I want to join with the deputies in commending the LAGA and the GA more widely as well. And the President of the GA, Jarlith Burns, attended the meeting with the family, with the Brown family, when they came to see me. I mean, Sean Brown was a good, decent man locking up his GA club when he was brutally killed and murdered 28 years ago. There has been not only no answers given to his family and no Article 2 compliant investigation. There have been clear active efforts to suppress information in relation to that. And it's also very clear from the rulings of the High Court and the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland and the gist that a full public inquiry is required here. And that the involvement of the UK State and agents of the UK State in relation to the murder of Sean Brown needs to be answered for. The family need those answers. The Taoiseach and I are at idome with this. I'm quite sure the Taoiseach has raised it with the British Prime Minister. The Taoiseach and I have discussed this on a number of occasions. And we all in the Irish government feel very strongly in relation to this. So at the moment, it is a statement of fact that there's no other mechanism available that is Article 2, Human Rights Compliance, than a public inquiry. Bridie Brown, if she doesn't mind me saying so, is in her late 80s. She deserves answers in relation to the murder of her husband. And I'll continue to, as will the government, make that point at every opportunity in our engagements and all our engagements with the UK government as well. More broadly in relation to legacy, more broadly, I really do hope in the coming weeks we can reach a framework that the two governments can say this is a good way forward on the issue of legacy across this island. I think that would be a very significant moment for victims, for families. I met a number of victims yesterday in relation to this, met all the parties in Northern Ireland on this last Monday in Stormont, and we're working intensively to see if we can find a way forward.