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The Barron Inquiry - Draft Terms of Reference for Inquiry - A Fresh Inquest - BIRW Report - Witness Account - Ludlow Family Account - 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

Irish Daily Star, 4 November 2005:

No result in death probe

Gardai ignored RUC tip on loyalist killers of Louth man

A report into the 1976 murder of Seamus Ludlow has not been able to clearly establish who killed him.

The 100-page probe by Justice Henry Barron, released last night under full Dail privilege, said the Dundalk forestry worker's death was a random sectarian killing of an innocent Catholic by loyalist terrorists.

A special Oireachtas sub-Committee is to hold public hearings in mid-January on the report.

The Oireachtas Justice Committee, which finally published the document last night in Dublin, refused to comment on its contents or pre-empt the findings of the sub-committee.

The report states that Mr Ludlow was picked up in a car in May 1976 by four men: James Fitzsimmons, Richard Long, Samuel Carroll and Paul Hosking.

It said: "Information obtained by the RUC from Hosking suggested that it was Carroll who shot Seamus Ludlow.

"The inquiry has not been in a position to test the veracity of this allegation."

Evidence

Justice Barron said he had no evidence that Mr Ludlow had any republican sympathies which might have led to him being targeted by loyalists.

Justice Barron said his job was made more difficult as documents were lost, destroyed or misplaced and key witnesses were ill, dead or unable to remember important events.

Mr Ludlow's family criticised the Government for not officially informing them of the publication, which was due to take place earlier but then postponed.

The report praised the Gardai for carrying out a dilligent and compretent investigation in the face of unreliable intelligence information.

but Justice Barron asks why details of the four suspects, provided by the RUC in 1979, were never pursued.

He said the investigating officer, Det Supt Dan Murphy, may have abandoned plans to interview the suspects because they were outside the jurisdiction.

Gardai may have feared that co-operation with the RUC during this tense period of the Troubles could lead to republican terrorists targeting gardai or RUC officers, the author said.

Justice Barron believes the decision not to pursue the suspects was made by Deputy Commissioner Laurence Wren, after consulting other senior gardai and possibly senior Justice Department officials.

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See press release from Margaret Urwin, Secretary of Justice for the Forgotten.

UTV news online, 3 November 2005: 'Barron report to be published'

See also, the following press coverage of yesterday's publication of the private Barron Report:

The Irish Independent, 4 November 2005: Ludlow family insists public inquiry is crucial to getting justice for their father

BBC News online: 4 November 2005: Call for public inquiry into 1976 murder

RTE News online, 4 November 2005: Wren rejects Barron report finding

The Irish Times, 4 November 2005: Ludlow report criticises Garda investigation

The Belfast Telegraph, 4 November 2005 Relatives of man killed by loyalists urge police action probe

The Irish Examiner - Editorial, 4 November 2005: Family needs a full-scale inquiry

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Seamus Ludlow CD

Supporters of justice can also now make a donation to our Seamus Ludlow Appeal Fund in return for a copy of a special music CD produced by kind supporters of the Ludlow family campaign. 

The CD features as its leading track An Ode To Seamus Ludlow written exclusively for the CD by Phil McCabe and brought to you 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.

If you are a lover of good Irish music and you would like to contribute to our Seamus Ludlow Appeal Fund just send an e-mail to [email protected] for further details about the CD.

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