The family of Sean Brown is not the only one demanding a public inquiry into deaths caused by paramilitaries acting in concert with the British State
Letters to the Editor, Irish News, January 10th, 2025
IT IS common knowledge among nationalists, and more recently among unionists, that successive British governments have held back vital information to the people of the six counties when it suited their own interests. This is not something which has just begun recently but was built into the governance of this petty statelet since its inception over a century ago.
Therefore it should be of no surprise to anyone, unionists now included, that the year 2025 has begun with yet more shameful behaviour by the current British government.
In 1997 Sean Brown, a highly respectable GAA official and family man, was abducted, taken away and shot dead by loyalist terrorists. No proper inquiry has ever been carried out into this horrific murder of a completely innocent individual, leading to well-held beliefs that the British government and others are hiding the truth from his family and the public in general. Recently a High Court judge, after hearing extensive evidence from all sides, ruled that a full public inquiry should be held into the incident.
“The truth regarding the murder of Sean Brown will come out and the evidence currently in the public domain will force this to happen
This decision was openly welcomed by the family who believed that, at long last, they would get some answers and possibly the truth about the murder of their loved one. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, this was to be quickly shattered by Secretary of State Hilary Benn, who has appealed this decision. The family were devastated and nationalists furious, but not surprised.
Over the years there have been numerous accounts of state agents being behind the callous murder of Sean Brown. Of course Britain has always denied these accusations, just as they denied many others in the past, but the evidence clearly points to the fact that collusion did take place. The truth must come out and the appeal, taking place on January 16, is being eagerly awaited and its decision will, and must, be fully scrutinised.
In the past we have witnessed British prime ministers standing up in the House of Commons and belatedly apologising on behalf of previous regimes. No government ever did this willingly but were forced to admit to their wrongs when the truth was revealed and left them with nowhere else to turn.
The truth regarding the murder of Sean Brown will come out and the evidence currently in the public domain will force this to happen.
It’s sad to say that after 100 years of misrule there is little hope of seismic change ever taking place in that institution across the water. The current and immediate hope is that justice for the Brown family might be the first step in this process – a process that is likely to be long and drawn out.
The end of British misrule in these six counties may well be the only solution to this problem, but the full public inquiry demanded by the Brown family cannot wait for this.
The public inquiry must take place now and the truth must be laid bare for the public to see.
SEAN SEELEY Craigavon, Co Armagh
Labour must stand over pledges on Troubles legacy, says widow
WOMAN WHO LOST HUSBAND AND HER PARENTS TO LOYALIST MURDER GANG WILL PLEAD WITH BENN FOR PUBLIC INQUIRY
Allison Morris, Belfast Telegraph, September 3rd, 2024
A widow who lost her husband and parents within months of each other to the same loyalist gang is to meet Secretary of State Hilary Benn to discuss the family's call for a public inquiry into the murders. Bernadette McKearney will meet with Mr Benn on Thursday. It is thought the meeting is part of a wider engagement process and could point to how the new Labour Government intends to deal with the legacy of the Troubles.
The party had pledged to repeal the Conservatives' controversial Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023, but has not yet said what it will be replaced with. A letter received this week by Phoenix Law, which represents the Fox and McKearney families, states that Mr Benn has been briefed on their case and is considering their request for an inquiry.
It adds that officials “will be providing further detailed advice in the coming weeks to aid the Secretary of State in making a decision on your client's request as quickly as possible”.
“The Secretary of State has indicated that he wishes to meet with the McKearney and Fox families to hear their views first hand, which can then be included in consideration of all issues relevant to and which touch upon this matter.” Earlier this year an inquest into the murders was halted midway through by the previous government's legacy legislation.
As there was no ruling, Mrs McKearney still doesn't have a death certificate for her husband Kevin, who was shot dead alongside his uncle Jack at the family butcher's shop in Moy, Co Tyrone, in 1992, leaving her alone to care for their four children.
Eight months later, along with her sister, she discovered the bodies of her parents, Charlie and Tess Fox, in the kitchen of their Moy home — they had been murdered by the UVF.
The Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), headed up by former Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan is currently examining a number of cases after requests from family members.
However, Mrs McKearney said that her family was not interested in going down the ICRIR route after already enduring an incomplete inquest process.
The Fox and McKearney families campaigned for decades for a fresh inquest, which was beset with delays before finally opening last January. However, some information was withheld or heavily redacted.
The Fox and McKearney families had been told that the coroner Judge Richard Greene would deliver a 'gist' — a summary of the intelligence information he'd received to date. However, just hours before he was to deliver his findings on April 26, the then Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris intervened to object to the coroner revealing the intelligence summary in open court.
Judge Greene then said he had “a provisional view” that the inquest could not continue and a public inquiry would be the way forward.
Then on May 1, all legacy inquest proceedings in Northern Ireland came to an end as the Tory legislation came into effect.
‘I don't want to go down the ICRIR route as I feel it'll just be a repeat of the inquest process’
Mrs McKearney said: “I don't want to go down the ICRIR route as I feel it'll just be a repeat of the inquest process.
“If a judge couldn't get the disclosure for the coroner's court, how is the ICRIR going to be any different? We really need an independent public inquiry, one with power to force the government to hand over disclosure. I have said in the past if we get answers, the truth and the justice we have been fighting for, I would shake the Prime Minister's hand, that could happen yet.
“Labour made promises about dealing with legacy before they came into power and now is the time to see if they intend to stand over those promises.
“We are hoping this Labour government are being honest in their pledges, because all Boris Johnson wanted to do was close it all down.” The deaths of Mrs McKearney's parents, her husband and his elderly uncle were among dozens attacks carried out by the UVF in an area once known as Northern Ireland's 'murder triangle'.
There has been a suggestion that the Mid-Ulster murders could be subject to a larger public inquiry, removing highly controversial cases from the ICRIR workload and allowing it to deal with information requests from families.
Mrs McKearney said given the fact there are already two families involved with their case and it features complex issues, they deserve an inquiry of their own.
“I wouldn't want our case to take away from someone else's loss. Each family deserves their own proper Article 2 compliant investigation, looking at the specifics of their loved ones murder,” she added.
Comments are welcome, please send them to truthrecoveryireland@gmail.com
That truly is the big question.
Is Hilary Benn being reined in by the permanent government?
Mike Jennings
I'm meeting Benn later this month and I want a public inquiry into the murder of my son young Raymond. I believe it probably won’t last too long. There is no chance that I will be going cap in hand to him.
He is being put on the back foot by victims on this. Next month I will be in Geneva and hopefully a meeting in the United Nations regarding victims of the Troubles here in Northern Ireland and the hated Legacy Act/ICRIR.
I believe victims are stronger together with no politics or religious narratives. The murderers in both communities must be held accountable in the courts. If anyone also seeking a public inquiry wants to meet up we can do so in my office in North Belfast.
Feel free to contact me through truthrecoveryireland@gmail.com.
Raymond McCord
For years we have had people who only call out for justice for victims from one community . When will some of these so-called justice seekers realise that the bomb and the bullet doesn't say, 'for Catholics only' or 'for Protestants only'. When will these people stand jointly with the victims of the state forces, loyalist paramilitaries and republican paramilitaries?
Both the British and Irish governments have many questions to answer over collusion and coverups. Unionist politicians point the finger at the Irish government while nationalist/republican politicians point the finger at the British government for obvious failings in the investigation of multiple murders.
Is it the same collusion when murderers can cross the border and get sanctuary in the Republic, as it is when murderers in Northern Ireland get sanctuary and no prosecution in Northern Ireland because they are state agents or members of the security forces?
The victims' families suffer exactly the same pain and are involved in the same fight for truth and justice on both sides of the Border.
The ICRIR has been rejected by victims from both communities and victims from both communities have been fighting for years for the truth.
No one community has a monopoly of pain, injustice or sectarianism. History has shown that.
Politicians have tried to keep us divided and that is sectarianism, as is failing to respect everyone's right to equality in seeking justice.
Now we fight together in the courts for the same cause, justice for our murdered family members without a green or orange agenda. That's why we will be able to defeat the British government irrespective of whether it iss Labour or Conservative and achieve justice for all by working together.
Raymond McCord
