“Incomprehensible”: Dublin under fire for inquest papers delay over murder of GAA official Sean Brown

​It is “incomprehensible” that the Irish government has not yet handed over 30 documents of material to the inquest into the murder of GAA official Sean Brown, a coroner has said.
The widow of murdered GAA official Sean Brown, Bridie Brown (fourth from right) with family and friends, and solicitor Niall Murphy (third from left), outside Laganside Court. . Photo: Liam McBurney/PA WireThe widow of murdered GAA official Sean Brown, Bridie Brown (fourth from right) with family and friends, and solicitor Niall Murphy (third from left), outside Laganside Court. . Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Wire
The widow of murdered GAA official Sean Brown, Bridie Brown (fourth from right) with family and friends, and solicitor Niall Murphy (third from left), outside Laganside Court. . Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

Amid ongoing concern from Mr Brown's family about the timetabling of proceedings, Justice Patrick Kinney has also ordered police to provide him with daily updates on the preparation of sensitive material ahead of the planned resumption of the inquest in January.

Mr Brown, 61, was abducted and killed by loyalists as he locked the gates at Bellaghy Wolfe Tones Club in Co Londonderry in May 1997.

No-one has been convicted of his murder.

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His inquest began in March and is scheduled to resume next year.

However, the proceedings are taking place against the backdrop of the government's new legacy act, which states that any legacy inquests which have not reached the point of verdict by May 1 2024 will be discontinued.

Members of Mr Brown's family, including his widow Bridie, attended the latest review hearing at Laganside Courthouse in Belfast yesterday.

Their lawyer said they were growing “increasingly anxious” that the inquest would not be completed ahead of the cut-off point next May.

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Opening the hearing, counsel for the coroner Joseph Aiken KC said there was outstanding material in the case from the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, which he said had been involved in oversight of the second police investigation into Mr Brown's death.

He told the court: “Over the course of three years of trying to get it, they have indicated they do have some 30 documents.

“Despite best efforts we simply cannot get this material out of the Department of Foreign Affairs' hands.

“For whatever reason, and we don't know what it is, this material simply hasn't been forthcoming.”

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Mr Justice Kinney said it was a “rather incomprehensible position” from the department.

He added: “I cannot understand.

“It seems inequitable for me to be criticising the PSNI for the apparent delays and difficulties in obtaining documents, and I find that a state body, the Department of Foreign Affairs, who have been involved in this matter for some considerable time, we simply cannot get information or documentation from them.

“I am very concerned about that and it seems to be at this stage that I would direct there is a formal response from the department before the next review.”

A previous review hearing in the case earlier this month was told that as part of its review of sensitive material in the case, the PSNI had recently uncovered 18 folders of documents.

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PSNI barrister Mark Robinson KC told the court yesterday the process was ongoing to prepare that material for a public immunity interest (PII) application.

He said police are facing “multiple demands for multiple inquests” and added he could not provide a date for the completion of the process.

Mr Justice Kinney responded: “I don't accept and indeed it is not acceptable that I am told I can't have a timeframe for completion of the exercise at this stage bearing in mind the context in which we are operating.

“This is not an open-ended process, we do know we have to work within a very tight timeframe.”

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He asked for a daily update on progress and added: “I don't expect these to be a one line email coming to my team, I expect it to be reasonably detailed.”

The coroner said he would hold another review hearing on October 26.