|
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 Chairman:
Thank you. You have been very
helpful. We now come to Ms Briege
Doyle, a niece of Seamus. Please
tell us what you want to say. Ms
Briege Doyle:
I am Mr. Jimmy Sharkey's sister, I was reared in the same house as Seamus.
I was only 16 when he was murdered.
When you are 16, it was an awful thing for your uncle to die and it was
worse that he was shot. I remember
the special branch questioned me in a car on my own.
I was taken into a car outside auntie Eileen's house and I was asked who
did I think killed my uncle. I was
only 16, I had not a clue. I did
not know anything about the troubles in the North.
He was a quiet man. I was
reared with him - so was Jimmy - and he would not harm a hair on your head.
It is sad to see a young man die like that.
He did not deserve what he got. Chairman:
Was
he well liked by all of the family? Ms
Doyle:
We loved him. I loved all my uncles
but because we were reared with him he was like another father to us.
Although there were ten of us he never scolded us.
He was a lovely person. I
was only 16 and could not understand who would shoot my uncle. Chairman:
Where
does Ms Doyle come in the family? Ms
Doyle: I
am the fourth oldest. Senator
J. Walsh:
Ms Doyle was obviously very young and impressionable at the age of 16 and this
was probably her first experience of bereavement. Ms
Doyle:
Yes. Senator
J. Walsh:
Can she recall whether there was much interaction with the gardaí coming to the
house after the murder? Ms
Doyle:
I recall them calling but when one was aged 16 one did not stand listening to
them. I recall them taking me into
a car on my own. I was afraid
because I was only 16 years old and neither my mother nor father was with me. Senator
J. Walsh:
Was that the only time they interviewed Ms Doyle? Ms
Doyle: Yes.
Senator
J. Walsh:
Did they do that simply to see whether Ms Doyle had any information? Ms
Doyle:
That was near the time of my uncle's funeral, shortly after he died. Senator
J. Walsh: The
family has acknowledged that there was some contact during 1976 but can Ms Doyle
recall whether there was any further contact with the Garda Síochána in 1979
or 1980? Ms
Doyle:
People called to the house to see my mother or father, not me. Senator
J. Walsh:
Was Ms Doyle unaware of the likely suspects involved in her uncle's death until
the events of the mid-1990s? Ms
Doyle:
I was led to believe that Uncle Seamus was shot in mistake for somebody else.
Now I know that was not true. Deputy
F. McGrath: Ms
Doyle is very welcome and I extend my sympathies to her.
Ms Doyle said that she was 16 years old at the time of her uncle's death
and she was very close to him. One
can tell from today's submission about Seamus that this is a case of the
slaughter of the innocent. The more
I listen to the family the more insight I receive.
It is important that we understand what a nice, decent, kind person
Seamus was. Will
Ms Doyle give us more information about the kind of questions the special branch
officers asked her when she was 16 years of age and how she felt at the time? Ms
Doyle:
I was afraid. I was in the back of
the car and they were in the front. They
asked me repeatedly who did I think killed my uncle.
I said I did not know. They
repeated the question and said the IRA shot him.
I did not know what the IRA was. I
knew nothing. Deputy
F. McGrath:
Years later when Ms Doyle discussed this with members of her extended family did
she understand the significance of what the special branch officers tried to do
when she was 16 years old? Ms
Doyle:
No. Deputy
F. McGrath:
Did Ms Doyle think they were digging deeper to see whether the family thought
Seamus was involved in an internal paramilitary feud or something of that kind?
Were they hinting at that? Ms
Doyle: They
probably were but I was only a child. That
is not to say it did not bother me but I did not understand it at the time Deputy
F. McGrath:
When Ms Doyle reflects on Seamus's murder does she think this was a murky cover
up by the security forces of this State and in the North?
Does the family feel that this was a case of gross incompetence and
mismanagement by the security forces and senior gardaí in respect of Seamus's
case? What is Ms Doyle's considered
view now? Ms
Doyle:
I do not know. Deputy
F. McGrath:
Was it something more sinister than bad management and bad policing? Ms
Doyle:
It was just bad policing. The
police did not care. Deputy
F. McGrath:
It was mismanagement and gross incompetence in respect of the investigation. Chairman:
We are not here to apportion responsibility under any circumstances. Deputy
F. McGrath: I
accept that; I accept that we have terms of reference.
Another insight from today, which many people will not necessarily have
tapped into previously, concerns the messages that were put out on the night of
Seamus Ludlow's murder. It was
suggested then that the loyalists and members of the security forces, whoever
they were, who killed Seamus were involved in some kind of drinking spree
whereas, from the family's perspective, that was not the case. Ms
Doyle: No. Deputy
F. McGrath: It
is important that is made public, given that many people were given impression
that those who murdered Seamus were on a drinking spree and that his murder
happened only by accident. We need
to go into all those questions. That seems to be the family's considered view as
well. Chairman:
I thank Briege Doyle for her evidence.
I know it has not been easy for her, but we appreciate her coming here to
give evidence. We
will now hear from Mr. Jimmy Sharkey, who is a nephew of Seamus Ludlow.
I welcome him to the meeting. I Top I Download the Barron Report from the Oireachtas website (pdf file) SUPPORT THE SEAMUS LUDLOW APPEAL FUND Bank of Ireland 78 Clanbrassil Street Dundalk County Louth IrelandAccount No. 70037984 Thank You.
|