The family of a GAA official who was killed by loyalists have been applauded by a crowd of supporters as they arrived at the Court of Appeal in Belfast for the latest hearing in their bid to secure a public inquiry.

Sean Brown was shot dead in 1997 after being abducted outside a GAA club in Bellaghy, County Londonderry.

The court has ruled that the government’s refusal to hold an inquiry is unlawful, but Secretary of State Hilary Benn confirmed on Wednesday the government was planning to challenge the ruling in the Supreme Court, the UK’s highest court.

First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald were among those who supported the Brown family outside court.

The NI secretary has asked the Court of Appeal for more time to fully consider the judgement.

Speaking at Westminster on Wednesday, Benn said he remained determined to have a “full, thorough and independent investigation” into Mr Brown’s murder.

Posting on X on Wednesday, First Minister Michelle O’Neill described the government’s decision to challenge the ruling as “cruel and inhumane”, while SDLP leader Claire Hanna called the move “appalling”.

Sinn Féin MP John Finucane said the government’s decision to appeal the court ruling is “a continued affront to a grieving family”. He added the “only viable option” is a public inquiry.

Niall Murphy, a solicitor representing the Brown family, said he was “disgusted at the disgraceful attempt by the NIO (Northern Ireland Office) to spin this appalling decision”.

Mr Murphy said there was nothing left for the NI secretary to consider.

“We don’t need another day, never mind four weeks, it’s a public inquiry, do what the courts have told you to do or continue your declared state of illegality,” he told BBC News NI’s Evening Extra.

On Thursday, Mr Brown’s daughter, Siobhan, labelled the UK government as “disgraceful” for how it informed her family about its decision to challenge the ruling.

“We were distraught at the fact that this information had been released without the family knowing in entirety,” she told BBC’s Good Morning Ulster programme.

“To suddenly hear it being broadcast, it’s disgraceful.”

Ms Brown accused the government of treating her family with disrespect and of trying to undermine them.

She referred to her 87-year-old mother Bridie’s appeal to Benn last month not to make her go to London to campaign for an inquiry.

“My mother made an impassioned plea to Hilary Benn, not to take her to London, that’s fallen on deaf ears, that’s the route we now have to go,” Siobhan Brown added.

Mr Brown was locking the gates of GAA club Bellaghy Wolfe Tones when he was kidnapped by the LVF.

Early last year, a court heard more than 25 people, including state agents, had been linked by intelligence material to Mr Brown’s murder.

In March 2024 a coroner said Mr Brown’s inquest could not continue due to material being withheld on the grounds of national security.

He decided that redactions of intelligence material meant he could not properly investigate the circumstances of the killing.

Instead, he wrote to the then Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris, requesting a public inquiry into the case.

In December, the High Court ruled that current Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn must set up a public inquiry into the murder.

The government then appealed against that ruling, mounting a legal challenge to the Court of Appeal.

However, Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan said it was “a shocking state of affairs” that more than 25 years had passed but there had been no “lawful inquiry into the circumstances” of Mr Brown’s death.

After that ruling, Mr Brown’s family said Benn should “do the right thing”.

Mr Brown’s widow spoke directly to the NI secretary, saying: “Five judges have told you what to do, do the right thing and please don’t have me going to London.”