Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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83. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to provide an update on the engagement with the British government in relation to the case of a person (details supplied). [47697/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I have raised the case of Sean Brown with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland regularly since I took up office as Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs in January 2025, most recently in my discussion with him at the British Irish Association conference in Oxford earlier this month. The Taoiseach also raised the case with Prime Minister Starmer during their call on 18 July.

It has been the long established position of the Irish government that the Brown family must have access to a mechanism which is compliant with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This is something that has never been provided to them. The various investigations conducted since the murder have failed to provide the answers needed by the Brown family, and they have waited too long for the truth.

The courts in Northern Ireland have made clear their view that the Independent Commission on Reconciliation and Information Recovery, as established by the UK Legacy Act, cannot offer that remedy and that a public inquiry is currently the only mechanism available which can do so.

I met Bridie Brown and her family in May. The family have shown enormous strength and resilience in pursuing this case and I commended them on their tireless campaign for truth, transparency, and accountability over the last 28 years. I reiterated to them that I will continue to use my influence and that of the Irish government to bring about a resolution that is acceptable to them. It is clear that the only adequate mechanism currently available is a public inquiry.

This case is exceptional in a number of respects. These include the rulings of the Northern Ireland High Court and Court of Appeal which identify a public inquiry as the only remedy; the material released by the Coroner's Court linking agents of the UK state to the murder; and the repeated frustration of a thorough investigation of the case by state agencies. My Department participated in the supervision of a review of the case, following the report of the Police Ombudsman, which did not receive the information subsequently found by the Coroner.

I will continue to support the Brown family in their calls for a public inquiry and to raise this case with the Secretary of State in my discussions with him.