Massive support of the Brown family and their pursuit of a public inquiry into Sean Brown's murder

And they just kept on coming, men, women, children, babes in arms. 

Thousands of Gaels descended on the County Derry village of Bellaghy for Friday evening’s Walk For Truth for Sean Brown - from St Mary’s Church to Páirc Seán de Brúin. 

The Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAC chairman was murdered on May 12, 1997, as he locked the gates of the club.

The Walk For Truth was organised by Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAC in support of the Brown family and its pursuit of a public inquiry into Mr Brown’s murder.

The Walk for Truth - @DerryNow digital report thread.

Thousands of Gaels descended on the Co Derry village of Bellaghy on Friday night for The Walk For Truth for Sean Brown.

The @BellaghyGAC chairman was murdered on May 12, 1997, while locking locking the gates of the club.… pic.twitter.com/FifTh0lDkh

— Catherine McGinty (@CathMcGin_Tea) May 16, 2025

Speaking to The County Derry Post in Páirc Seán de Brúin, GAA President, Jarlath Burns said he was “inspired” by the number of people who took part in The Walk For Truth “to support the Brown Family.”

He added: “In 1997, we made the opposite journey on the very sad day of the funeral. There was terrible anxiety at that time. There was sadness in the air. 

“Tonight I feel a different mood, a mood of resilience, determination, solidarity, defiance.

“This is the GAA community. We go out in these jerseys that people are wearing here, we go out and we fight for our parish every week and for our club and we play for our club against each other but when something happens to one of us, we are all part of this wonderful community and we take our values with us tonight.

“We are decent people and all we want is justice and truth," said Mr Burns.

Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald and First Minister Michell O’Neill also took part in Walk For Truth for Sean Brown. 

Ms McDonald told The County Derry Post they were in Bellaghy to “support the Brown family and to support the demand for the immediate establishment of the public inquiry into sean’s murder”.

“The courts have spoken - the High Court, the Court of Appeal. You can see from the thousands and thousands of people who are here, people care deeply about this,” added Ms McDonald.

“The British Government now know what they have to do, so they need to get on with it,” she added.

Ms O’Neill said it was “time for truth”.

She added: “It is time for justice. It is time to do the right thing by the Brown family. 

“I think the thousands upon thousands of people that turned out here tonight to support the Brown Family, is testimony and the British Government need to heed what is being sent here, the message, which is much more than symbolism here tonight; it is a very strong message of support.

“It is a very strong message to say, ‘This family won’t give up. This community won’t give up and the people of Ireland won’t give up’, said Ms O’Neill.

Addressing the “immense” crowd in Páirc Seán de Brúin, Kevin Doherty, Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAC chairperson said it was “humbling to think the GAA community could pull together like this”.

“As a club, as friends, as neighbours, we no longer can hold on to our dignified silence. As a community, we are furious at the treatment of the Brown family. 

“I actively seek the support and solidarity of the wider association at this time of legal and moral repugnance.

“As a unit of the Association, we represent what is best about our society, however, what the Brown Family have endured in recent months, weeks and indeed years, is the lowest and it can no longer be tolerated.

“Every club in Ireland has a chairperson. Every club in Ireland has to have the last person to lock the gates, so I asked every club in Ireland to show their support at these times for the Brown family and to get justice once and for all,” said Mr Doherty. 

Giving a massive “go raibh maith agaibh” to the crowd assembled in Páirc Seán de Brúin, John Keenan, chairperson of Derry GAA said: “This is a true sense of solidarity, a loud, loud statement to the outside world, to show the family the family that the GAA is behind the Brown family.

“They are one of us. If you touch one of us, or hurt one of us, annoy one of us, we protect each other, that is why we are out here in such numbers tonight,” said Mr Keenan.

Niall Murphy, the Brown Family solicitor, began his forensic analysis of Sean Brown’s case [full video below] by saying he was also a member of Naomh Eanna GAC in Glengormley.

“Seven months after the murder of Sean Brown, my senior club football chairman, Gerry Devlin, was shot dead at the gates of our club, by the same animals that attended Bellaghy on May 12, 1997,” he added.

“There are many Gaelic communities throughout the North that have endured this loss and today’s show of strength is one of solidarity for all communities that have lost. I would just like to commend everybody for their attendance,” said Mr Murphy.

Alan Bracknell from the Pat Finucane Centre said he was honoured to be asked to say a few words at The Walk For Truth For Sean Brown.

“I start by sending support and solidarity to the Brown family and the community of Bellaghy from my home club, Naomh Pádraig, Cullyhanna, County Armagh,” he said.

“Sean’s murder is referenced in the report ‘Our Bitter Legacy’ and is an example of how the British State has implemented impunity and the non prosecution of state agents, whether they be in uniform or not.”

‘Our Bitter Legacy’ was co-authored by the Pat Finucane Centre and the Committee on the Administration of Justice,” said Mr Bracknell.

The Walk For Truth making its way into Páirc Seán de Brún in Bellaghy.

“Hilary Benn, there are thousands of us standing with the Brown family. Take a look,” said Mark Thompson from Relatives For Justice.

“We stand here tonight to bear witness. We stand in solidarity with the Brown family and all other families impacted by the conflict, in particular families impacted by state violence and collusion,” he added.

GAA President Jarlath Burns said: “As I look over here at the thousands gathered in Páirc Seán de Brúin, I can tell you tonight, Sean Brown would be a proud man. 

“He would be proud of his family who have campaigned for justice and truth for him for this past 28 years, when they should have been allowed to mourn. 

“He would be proud of his club, Bellaghy, who in such a short time, in these wonderful, beautiful facilities that he was such a part of, for organising this demonstration tonight. He would be proud of the GAA as a whole,” said Mr Burns.

Public demonstration to be held for Sean Brown in Bellaghy this week

This is the 28th anniversary of the GAA chairman’s murder

Family of Sean Brown hail ‘very promising meeting’ with Tanaiste

Mr Brown (61) was ambushed, kidnapped and murdered by loyalist paramilitaries as he locked the gates of Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA Club in May 1997

On behalf of her family, Clare Loughran, Sean Brown’s daughter, thanked everyone present in Páirc Seán de Brúin “for walking with us tonight in our demand for a public inquiry”.

“We are honestly overwhelmed by the turnout. It is incredibly touching to see so many people here and it means a great deal to us. 

“It reminds us that although our journey for truth and justice has been long, we are not walking it alone.”

Mr Brown’s daughter, Siobhan Brown, concluded The Walk For Truth for her father by reading The Augean Stables by Bellaghy poet and Nobel Laureate, Seamus Heaney - a poignant and fitting end to the event:

“My favourite bas-relief: Athene showing

Heracles where to broach the river bank

With a nod of her high helmet, her staff sunk

In the exact spot, the Alpheus flowing

Out of its course into the deep dung strata

Of King Augeas' reeking yard and stables.

Sweet dissolutions from the water tables,

Blocked doors and packed floors deluging like gutters...

And it was there in Olympia, down among green willows,

The lustral wash and run of river shallows,

That we heard of Sean Brown's murder in the grounds

Of Bellaghy GAA Club. And imagined

Hose-water smashing hard back off the asphalt

In the car park where his athlete's blood ran cold.”