The Newry Democrat, 2 April 2006:

A 30-year search for the truth

By Brian Hyland

A Dromintee man whose uncle was murdered 30 years ago today (Tuesday) by Loyalist paramilitaries says his family will continue to fight for justice and the truth.

Seamus Ludlow was abducted and shot dead by masked men near his home in Dundalk on May 2 1976. It was claimed that Gardai were informed by the RUC in 1979 of the four loyalist suspects they believed were involved in the murder but that Gardai failed to take action. No one has ever been charged with the murder.

Thirty years on Mr Ludlow's nephew, Michael Donegan, said his family are still earching for the truth, but to no avail.

"The fact that we're still fighting for justice after 30 years is very difficult to understand," he told the Democrat.

"The Gardai forgot about this man within days of the murder. The family still remember him. I think it's a disgrace that the family still have to fight for truth after all this time. We're as much in the dark now as we have ever been. We're not at all happy."

Earlier this year an Oireachtas Justice Sub-Committee began hearings into last year's report by Justice Henry Barron into the killing and recently published its recommendations, which proposed another private enquiry and the re-examining of the murder investigation - but fell well short of the family's demands for a full public enquiry.

"The recent Oireachtas committee, like the Barron Enquiry, raised more questions than it actually answered," he added. "We now have the possibility of the Gardai receiving prior warning of the raid into Dundalk that night. It was an amazing revelation by Judge Barron, something he didn't actually put in his report, that the Gardai had received a letter from the RUC in March 1976 naming a dangerous Loyalist who could have been coming south. It turned out this Loyalist was responsible for the killing. Why did the Gardai not do anything to prevent it?

"We are not finished with this. We will not let it rest and we haven't excluded any possibilities and are currently seeking advice with our lawyers."

Mr Ludlow, a forestry worker, was abducted outside dundalk by masked men and shot dead on May 2, 1976. At the time, Gardai claimed Mr Ludlow had links to the IRA and had been killed because he was an informer, an allegation always denied by his family. But, almost 25 years later, it was revealed that Gardai had been informed by the RUC in 1979 of the four loyalist suspects they believed were involved in the murder, but Gardai had not taken action. This prompted the Irish government to order Justice Barron to conduct a series of investigations into the murder - particularly collusion between loyalists and security forces in the north - which resulted in November's Barron Report and the Oireachtas hearings.

Private masses hsave been organised by the Ludlow family for Seamus's anniversary, which takes place today (May 2).

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