Irish Deputy PM Meets Family Demanding Inquiry into 1997 GAA Chairman Murder

The family of Sean Brown, chairman of Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA Club, met with Irish Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris on the 28th anniversary of Brown's 1997 murder to press for a public inquiry. Brown was abducted and killed by loyalist paramilitaries, with over 25 individuals, including state agents, linked to the killing, but no one has been convicted. The British government has repeatedly stalled the inquiry, appealing court rulings that ordered one, while multiple courts have ruled that refusal to hold an inquiry was unlawful. Harris condemned the lack of an effective investigation as "simply unacceptable" and pledged to continue efforts to support the family's campaign. The family emphasized that a public inquiry is the only way to achieve truth and accountability after more than two decades of investigations, including two police and a Police Ombudsman probe. The ongoing dispute highlights the complex intersection of state involvement and paramilitary violence in Northern Ireland's unresolved legacy cases.