RTE to air 'Murder of a GAA Chairman' on Sean Brown killing on Monday

RTE are set to broadcast a new documentary looking at the Troubles killing of Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA club chairman Sean Brown.

Sean Brown, 61, was abducted and killed by loyalist paramilitaries as he locked the gates at Bellaghy Wolfe Tones Club in Co Derry in May 1997. No one has ever been convicted of his murder.

An inquest was under way into his death until last month when a coroner said it could not proceed due to the withholding of sensitive files.

Read more: Sean Brown’s family says Government legal challenge is an ‘attack on truth’

The passage of the UK government's ‘Troubles Legacy Act’, which becomes law on May 1, has drawn widespread condemnation from victims' families, and opposition from the Irish Government, the European Union, the United Nations, and all the main political parties in the North.

Aspects of the laws include a limited form of immunity from prosecution for Troubles-related offences for those who co-operate with the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

As the deadline for the ‘Troubles Legacy Act’ looms, the RTE documentary Murder of a GAA Chairman chronicles the Brown family's journey as they seek redress for the injustice of the murder of father, husband and grandfather, Sean Brown.

Earlier this month, the UK government announced it is taking legal action over the inquest into Sean Brown's death. Despite a coroner's request for a public inquiry into Sean's death, the UK government has chosen to challenge the decision by the Coroner to disclose to the family that intelligence had identified 25 suspects in the murder and that several of those suspects were State Agents.

An RTE spokesperson said: "Nearly three decades later, the wounds inflicted by Sean's untimely death remain unhealed. Despite the decades long campaign by Sean’s family, no one has been brought to account for this crime, however failings in the police investigation have been exposed.

"Murder of a GAA Chairman examines the investigation into Sean Brown’s murder and looks at how the Brown family has been left grappling with unanswered questions."

The documentary is set to be broadcast on Monday, April 22 at 9:35pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player .

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