Daily Ireland, 7 September 2005:

Call for public inquiry

The family of murdered Co Louth man Seamus Ludlow last night said evidence given by gardai at the fresh inquest strengthens their case for a public inquiry.

Retired garda John Courtney, who was part of the Garda murder squad told the inquest that RUC officers had given him four names of the murder suspects, who were connected to the Ulster Defence Association, in February 1979.

Mr Courtney said that, after the information had been passed to Garda HQ in Dublin, the counter-subversion unit failed to issue a direction for any further investigation into the men.

Jimmy Sharkey, a nephew of Mr Ludlow, said after the inquest: "Evidence of former chief superintendent John Courtney was the first public admission that we have that the gardai had this information and never acted upon it. It alone strengthens our case for a public inquiry. This is the first step. We are glad that this is over. It is a chapter out of the way."

Attorney General Rory Brady ordered the fresh inquest, which was held almost 30 years after Mr Ludlow's death. The jury at the fresh inquest passed a verdict of unlawful killing.

The Dundalk Coroner's Court heard evidence that the body of the 47-year-old sawmills operator had been discovered at 3.10pm on May 2 1976, with three shot wound to the chest, dumped over a ditch in a lane at Culfore near Dundalk, around 450 yards (410 metres) from his home.

Mr Ludlow was last spotted alive walking over the Newry Road bridge on the outskirts of the County Louth town on May 1, 1976.

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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.

 

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