The moral void at the heart of the British government's profoundly flawed Troubles legacy proposals has been exposed yet again, this time by the latest developments around the inquest into the chilling murder of Derry GAA official Sean Brown.
Mr Brown was attacked and beaten by an LVF gang as he locked the gates at Bellaghy Wolfe Tone's GAC on May 12 1997. The 61-year-old was put into the boot of his own car and driven to a lane outside Randalstown, Co Antrim, where he was shot six times.
In the 26 years since, Mr Brown's case has borne the grimly familiar echoes of far too many other Troubles killings: no-one has ever been convicted of the murder; his family suspect collusion; and attempts to discover the truth of the circumstances around his death have been repeatedly frustrated.
Mr Brown's family has experienced almost 40 inquest-linked hearings, a number that barely begins to convey the determination required to advance a Troubles case through the justice system.
The family's latest hope to get to the truth was an inquest which opened in March, with Mr Brown's widow Bridie movingly describing him as a "very fair-minded man who treated everybody the same".
But the Brown family have once again met deep disappointment, after PSNI and Ministry of Defence foot-dragging over the disclosure of evidence meant that the inquest faces further delay.
Coroner Mr Justice Patrick Kinney said the inquest would now resume on January 8 2024, with four weeks set aside for hearing evidence. Protestations from the state agencies that this was still too tight a schedule "will not cut the mustard", he said.
One does not need to be too cynical to imagine that the PSNI and MOD will endeavour to find fresh reasons to stonewall proceedings when they resume. Indeed, as Stephen Toal, the Brown family's barrister told the court, "this continued delay now has a realisable prize".
This is because the British government last week amended its controversial Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill so that ongoing legacy inquests, other than those where a verdict is imminent, will cease on May 1 2024. Not content with delivering what amounts to an amnesty for Troubles perpetrators, the government is also to cruelly deny victims' families opportunities for the truth and justice they crave.
Many will agree with former Police Ombudsman, Baroness Nuala O'Loan, who described the latest development in Mr Brown's inquest as a "travesty", asking: "How can a civilised society fail so utterly in its obligations to the families of those murdered during the Troubles?"
