The Barron Inquiry - Draft Terms of Reference for Inquiry - A Fresh Inquest - 2005 Inquest Account - BIRW Report - Witness Account - Ludlow Family Account - Sunday World report May 1976 - Meeting the Police Ombudsman - Ed Moloney Radio Interview - 25th Anniversary - Profile - Questions - Photographs - Press Release - Letter to RUC - Magill article 1999 - Press Coverage - Barron Report Published - Ludlow Family Response to Barron Report - Download the Barron Report from the Oireachtas website (pdf file) - Statement from Justice for the Forgotten - Joint Oireachtas Committee Request for Submissions - Joint statement from Justice for the Forgotten, Relatives for Justice and the Pat Finucane Centre - Download Transcript of Ludlow family meeting with Oireachtas Sub-Committee (Word file)
Original Ludlow Family website - Second Ludlow Family website - The Dundalk Bombing
The Irish News, 24 January 2006:
Ludlow family still seek justice three decades after murder
An Oireachtas sub-committee will today (Tuesday) begin hearings on the Barron report into the 1976 murder of Seamus Ludlow. Southern correspondent Valerie Robinson reports on the long road already travelled by the Co Louth man's family.
As Seamus Ludlow left a Dundalk pub and walked towards his death on the night of May 2 1976, he could not know he would also become the centre of a scandal based on allegations of collusion.
The 47-year-old bachelor had not been a headline-maker when alive.
Described as an "unassuming man", Mr Ludlow lived with his mother, sister, her husband and the couple's large family in Thistle Cross, Dundalk.
He had worked in a number of labourer jobs and, at the time of his death, was employed as a forester at a sawmill.
In his recent report, former Supreme Court judge Mr Justice Henry Barron supported persistent claims by his family that he had no subversive connections.
On the night of his murder witnesses recall seeing Mr Ludlow hitching a lift shortly after leaving a pub and walking homewards.
It is believed he was picked up by his loyalist killers just outside the town.
His body was found dumped in a laneway the following day. He had been shot three times.
From the outset, his family were frustrated by the nature of the Garda investigation and their treatment at the hands of investigating officers.
Gardai claimed the dead man had links to the IRA and had been killed because he was an informer, an allegation always denied by his relatives.
In August 1976 an inquest was held. The Ludlow family was not present, later claiming they had not been informed it was taking place.
They also said no ballistic or forensic evidence was presented.
The Garda investigation had already been wound up, with no-one charged with the murder.
For the next two decades the family waited for a development in the case, feeling betrayed by the authorities.
That development came when they were contacted in 1995 by journalist Joe Tiernan. He said gardai had been aware of the identity of the killers but had failed to act.
Mr Tiernan gave the family the names of the loyalist gang believed to have been responsible for the fatal attack – Paul Hosking, William Long, Samuel Carroll, and then UDR corporal James Reid Fitzsimmons – prompting the Ludlows to call for a public inquiry.
They claimed that Mr Ludlow had been the victim of a cover-up by security forces on both sides of the border.
Garda chiefs ordered Detective Superintendent Ted Murphy to conduct an internal inquiry to investigate the claims. The contents of the report were not made public, but last September a new inquest into Mr Ludlow's death heard that former Detective Inspector John Courtney, a member of the murder squad, had passed information about the suspects to the Garda anti-terrorist section in 1979.
No action was taken.
In February 1998, the four suspects were arrested and interviewed by the RUC. Gardai were not present at the interviews.
The men were released without charge, despite the fact that Hosking and Fitzsimmons had admitted being present at the murder, although insisting they had no role in it. The other pair denied all knowledge of the incident.
The Victims Commission, chaired by former tanaiste John Wilson, also called for an inquiry – describing as "very disturbing" the allegations about the conduct of some gardai during the original investigation.
In 1999 Mr Wilson said he would support the extradition of the four murder suspects but no action was taken.
That August the family erected a plaque in memory of Seamus at the site of his murder. The plaque read: "In loving memory of Seamus Ludlow, who was cruelly murdered by UDR/Red Hand Commando on May 2 1976."
The Irish government ordered Justice Henry Barron to conduct a series of investigations into allegations of collusion between loyalists and security forces in Northern Ireland in a number of attacks in the Republic.
During his inquiries, which are ongoing, the judge repeatedly complained of a lack of co-operation from the British authorities.
His final report on the Ludlow murder, published last November, was strongly critical of the Garda.
It emerged that the RUC told gardai in 1979 of the four suspects they believed were involved in the murder, but they were never questioned in Northern Ireland by gardai.
Mr Justice Barron said the inaction was based on a fear among senior gardai that they would have to allow the RUC the right to interview suspects in the Republic in return.
He also said it was "most probable" that then deputy Garda commissioner Laurence Wren made the decision not to pursue the RUC's information.
Mr Wren has strongly denied the judge's suggestion.
The Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights, chaired by Fianna Fail TD Sean Ardagh, is today set to begin hearings on the Barron report.
The hearings will begin at 10am when a witness list will be released.
However, the family continue to insist that they will only be satisfied with a full public inquiry into the killing.
Thank you. October/November 2005: A group of supporters kindly produced a music CD in aid of our Seamus Ludlow Appeal Fund. The CD which is no longer available raised valuable funds for this campaign. The CD features as its leading track An Ode To Seamus Ludlow written exclusively for the CD by Phil McCabe and brought to life by the voice talents of Tom Moore. To Phil and Tom and to all who helped produce this excellent CD, a sincere vote of thanks. Find out more.>>> Visitors are welcome to leave messages on our new Bravenet guestmap Guest Book. You can indicate your country or state of origin by using the map supplied. The Ludlow family supports the campaign by the Rooney and Watters families of Dundalk for an inquiry into the murderous Dundalk Bombing of 19 December 1975 which resulted in the sectarian murder of Jack Rooney and Hugh Watters. Further information can be accessed at their campaign website. Also visit:
Relatives for Justice http://www.relativesforjustice.com/ Pat Finucane Centre http://www.www.patfinucanecentre.org/ British Irish Rights Watch http://www.birw.org/ Irish Council for Civil Liberties http://www.iccl.ie/ Celtic League http://www.manxman.co.im/cleague/index.html Justice for the Forgotten at http://www.dublinmonaghanbombings.org/ The 1st. Barron Report on the May 1974
Dublin and Monaghan bombings can be downloaded in pdf format from:
http://www.irlgov.ie/oireachtas/Committees-29th-Dáil/jcjedwr-debates/InterimDubMon.pdf
The 2nd.Barron Report on the Dublin Bombings of 1972 and 1973, and other incidents along the Irish border, can be downloaded in pdf form from: http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/committees29thdail/jcjedwr/Dublin_Barron_Rep031204.pdf |
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