Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is facing increasing calls to initiate a public inquiry into the 1997 murder of Sean Brown, a local Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) official.

Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O’Neill has expressed discontent with the Secretary of State's lack of action and has formally written to Starmer urging immediate steps towards accountability for Brown's family.

Sean Brown, aged 61 at the time of his death, was the chairman of the Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA club in County Londonderry.

He was ambushed, kidnapped, and subsequently murdered by loyalist paramilitaries while securing the club's gates in May 1997.

Recent developments in the legal proceedings surrounding Brown’s case have emerged following a judgment from three judges at the Court of Appeal in Belfast, who declared the UK Government's failure to order a public inquiry unlawful.

Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan, delivering the ruling, provided Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn a four-week period to contemplate the court's decision before the scheduling of a subsequent hearing.

The UK Government has indicated it will carefully assess the court’s ruling.

Outside the court, Bridie Brown, Sean Brown's elderly widow, voiced her frustration, noting that she has attended court hearings 58 times in her pursuit of justice.

In addressing reporters in Belfast, O’Neill characterized the treatment of the Brown family as “horrible” and “horrific,” emphasizing the emotional toll on them, especially on Mrs. Brown, who is 87 years old.

O’Neill highlighted the repeated judicial calls for a public inquiry, criticizing the British Government for what she described as an ongoing disregard for the family’s suffering.

Conor Murphy, a Sinn Féin senator, raised Brown's case during discussions with the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty.

Murphy underscored the UK Government’s ongoing failure to initiate an independent public inquiry, despite a previous High Court ruling mandating it, which was reaffirmed by last week’s Court of Appeal decision.

He noted Chief Justice Keegan’s remarks on the lack of an effective investigation in the nearly three decades since the murder, labeling the situation a “shocking state of affairs.”

Additionally, a coroner's inquiry into Brown's death was halted last year due to concerns over the impact of confidential state materials on the ability to examine the case impartially.

Preliminary hearings indicated that over 25 individuals were linked to the murder via intelligence, with allegations suggesting that surveillance of a suspect was briefly discontinued the night of the murder before resuming the next morning.

The coroner, Mr. Justice Kinney, called for the establishment of a public inquiry, a recommendation that the Government did not accept.

Instead, Secretary Benn proposed that the matter be handed to a new investigatory body, the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

This decision was subsequently challenged by Mrs. Brown, leading to a High Court ruling in her favor last December, which mandated the Government to hold an inquiry.

This ruling was then appealed by the Government, culminating in the recent Court of Appeal judgment.