Delegation from US AOH Freedom For All Ireland division visits Derry

The Sean Brown case and the need for a Border Poll on Irish Unity were the key issues discussed by a visiting delegation of US Ancient Order of the Hibernians (AOH) members to Derry.

The continued refusal of the British Government to hold a public inquiry into the murder Mr Brown was highlighted in a meeting between the Brown family and the Hibernians on Monday in Bellaghy.

The members of the AOH Freedom For All Ireland division also heard about the need for a Border Poll on Irish Unity from Foyle MP Colum Eastwood.

Sean Brown, the chairman of Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAC was abducted from the club on May 12, 1997 by the LVF and later murdered.

In March 2024, Coroner Mr Justice Patrick Kinney ruled that the inquest into Mr Brown’s death could not proceed and requested the establishment of a public inquiry.

The Court of Appeal upheld the decision on April 3, 2025. This ruling confirmed a December 2024 High Court decision declaring the British Government’s refusal to hold an inquiry was unlawful and in breach of Article 2 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). As of April 2026, the case is awaiting a ruling from the UK Supreme Court, where the British Government appealed the Court of Appeal decision.

Speaking to The Derry News, Martin Galvin, Ancient Order of the Hibernians (AOH) Freedom-for-all-Ireland chairperson described the meeting with Sean Brown’s family on Monday as “extremely moving”.

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“We met with Sean’s widow Bridie. We met his daughters Clare [Loughran] and Siobhan. We met one of Sean’s brothers. There were other relatives at the meeting too,” said Mr Galvin.

“The local MP Cathal Mallaghan (Sinn Féin), Mid Ulster councillor Denise Johnston (SDLP) and Alan Brecknell from the Pat Finucane Centre, which has supported the Brown family, were also present,” he added.

“The case of Sean Brown is so important and it is so moving,” said Martin Clavin. “Here is somebody, just a GAA official who was targeted, abducted, driven past an RUC / British Army barracks, no problem at all, and killed.

“And not only does the British Government not want his family to get a public inquiry, it is afraid of the Brown family getting even a gist of the truth of the circumstances of Sean’s murder.

“A coroner has already read that there were British agents involved, and if it doesn’t give the Brown family a gist of the truth, what does that say for all of the hundreds of other families who want to get truth and justice?

“How then is the British Government going to interpret the new framework, the new legislation it is bringing forward?

The Mayor  Ruairi McHugh and Councillor Aisling Hutton met the group ,the Mayor made a presentation  to Kathleen Savage (third from the left )who has travelled to Ireland and Derry for the past 41 years and is celebrating her 80^th birthday this year.

“How can we be confident we will get justice if they won’t even give it to a family like the Browns?” said Mr Galvin.
The new framework to which Mr Galvin referred is the British Labour Government’s plan to replace the controversial NI Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 with new legislation. This will repeal the conditional amnesty for Trouble-related crimes, reform the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) and strengthen information-sharing with authorities in the Republic of Ireland.

Mr Galvin said the AOH could bring pressure to bear on the British Government about the need for a public inquiry into Sean Brown’s murder.

“We have already spoken to Hilary Benn [British Secretary of State] directly,” he explained, “and we regularly meet with members of Congress who have written about the Brown family and other legacy cases.

“We are also meeting with the Department of Foreign Affairs and TDs Leinster House TDs next week.

“We intend, as often as it takes, in America to let the British hear from as many places as possible that we are watching, and Congress is watching, and the Irish Government is watching, and they cannot deny justice to the Browns. They are not going to get away with it,” said Mr Galvin.

On Monday evening, the AOH Freedom For All Ireland division members met with Foyle MP Colum Eastwood (SDLP).

“We received a very good presentation from Colum Eastwood on Irish Unity,” said Mr Galvin.

“He thinks the English will, eventually, want to leave the North and will call a referendum [Border Poll] to facilitate Irish Unity,” he added.

“Colum Eastwood also talked about the need for the Brown family to receive justice. Just as right from the very start, the Bloody Sunday families had to fight for justice, the Brown family are the ones doing it now, as so many families have had to do it.”

Mr Galvin added that the AOH Freedom For All Ireland Hibernians were fully supportive of a Border Poll.

“Our position on the Border Poll is that we have been for the Freedom For All Ireland since we were established in 1936. At that time it was all of Ireland, now we are down to the remaining Six Counties.

“We are going to push for a Border Poll. The British pay attention to American opinion, to Congressional opinion.

“We have members in all 50 states. We have thousands and thousands of members. They will push their individual representatives.

“In terms of legacy, we do educational programmes. We have had the Brown family on a webinar. We had people who met with them yesterday who will go back to 14 different states and talk about what they have heard and seen.

“We will talk to everyone possible. When the Irish Government comes to the States to meet with Irish America, it meets with us.

“We will demand that the Department of Foreign Affairs puts pressure on the British Government. It has a new agreement. It said it was going to use the new legislation to provide justice. Let’s make sure they live up to that agreement unlike virtually every agreement the British have made with the Irish in the past,” said Mr Galvin.

Acknowledging the Hibernian longstanding relationship with Derry, Mr Galvin said they were “grateful and inspired” by people like the Bogside Artists, the members of the Martin McGuinness Foundation and the Museum of Free Derry organisation during their visit to Derry.

“We are very proud of the fact that the AOH supports the work of the Bogside Artists and the People’s Gallery. In 1836, when the AOH was founded we were for Freedom For All Ireland and we intend to continue until we see it,” said Mr Galvin.

The Hibernians also met with AOH member Matt Morrison, whose wife is an officer in the Ladies AOH.

A former prisoner, Mr Morrison was a longtime resident in the United States self-deported back to Derry in case he was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“Matt is somebody everybody respects,” said Mr Galvin. “He has been a great influence within the AOH in America and we have a lot of people looking forward to meeting him here today, hearing from and continuing to support him in any way we can.”

Speaking after the meeting with the Hibernians in Bellaghy, Cathal Mallaghan MP said the only “viable and human rights-compliant way to achieve truth and justice for the family of Sean Brown” was through a “fully independent public inquiry”.

“We urged [the members of the Ancient Order of the Hibernians] to write and speak to their Members of Congress and Senators to use their influence to put pressure on the British Government to do the right thing and allow the truth about Sean Brown’s killing to be told,” added Mr Mallaghan.

“When Bridie Brown next attends the court, it will be her sixtieth time. It is beyond time the British Government ended its cruel campaign of delay and denial, which shows a shocking level of contempt and disrespect for the Brown family.

“The courts have been clear; the only viable, human rights-compliant way to achieve truth and justice is through a fully independent public enquiry.”