RUC and army 'backed killers'

As many as 74 murders by a loyalist paramilitary gang in Ireland during the mid-1970s may have involved collusion with serving police and soldiers, an international lawyers' report alleged yesterday.

The independent inquiry focused on allegations that some of the worst atrocities of the Troubles - including the 1974 bombings in Dublin and Monaghan, which killed 33 people - were carried out by an Ulster Volunteer Force faction operating under security force protection from a farm near Glennane, County Armagh.

The authors of the study, sponsored by the Derry-based Pat Finucane Centre, said they had found credible evidence of training, weapons and information being provided by Royal Ulster Constabulary officers and Ulster Defence Regiment soldiers. Such claims surfaced repeatedly during the Troubles and their aftermath but this report suggests that collusion in Armagh was systematic and involved senior officers.

It relied on ballistics evidence as well as the testimony of a former RUC officer who has admitted involvement with the gang. Among cases investigated were the Miami Showband massacre in July 1975 and the shooting of Catholic policeman Sergeant Joe Campbell in February 1977.

Douglass Cassell, of Notre Dame Law School in the US, who chaired the panel, said it had been denied access to some Northern Ireland police documents and called for a wider inquiry.

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See also:

The Pat Finucane Centre, Derry, statement, 3 November 2006: INVITATION TO THE LAUNCH OF THE REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT INTERNATIONAL PANEL ON ALLEGED COLLUSION IN SECTARIAN KILLINGS IN NORTHERN IRELAND . . .

Irish Times/ireland.com, 6 November 2006: Garda Castigated In Report On North Collusion

Irish American Information Service online, 6 November 2006: RUC APPROVED AND COLLUDED IN 25 MURDERS - REPORT
2006-11-06 11:53:00.0 EST

BBC News online, 6 November 2006: Security 'Links' To Murder Plots

Ulster Television News online, 6 November 2006: US academic shocked by report's findings

The Irish Daily Mirror, 7 November 2006: Shock report alleges high-level collusion Officials 'had information on 25 atrocities' RUC & Army 'helped loyalists carry out. . 74 MURDERS

The Irish Daily Mirror, 7 November 2006: So many victims

The Irish Examiner, 7 November 2006: Evidence found of British collusion in bombings

Irish Independent, 7 November 2006: Inquiry 'shocked' at RUC collusion

The Irish-American Information Service, 7 November 2006: PRESSURE ON BRITISH TO INVESTIGATE COLLUSION EVIDENCE

The Irish News, 7 November 2006: Questions haunt probe into loyalist collusion.

The Dundalk Democrat, 15 November 2006:'We just want the truth' New investigation into 1975 bombing

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Produced in association with the Ludlow Family.

Last edited: 19 November 2006 17:06:20

 Visit the Ludlow family's website.  Visit Justice for the Forgotten  Statement by John Oliver Weir

Download the Barron Report (pdf file) on the Dundalk bombing.

Download the Barron Inquiry Report into the 17 May 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, (pdf file)

Barron Report: on the Dublin Bombings of 1972 and 1973, can also be downloaded in pdf form

Download the Barron Report into the murder of Seamus Ludlow from the Oireachtas website (pdf file)

Copyright © 2006 the Rooney, Watters and Ludlow families. All rights reserved. Revised: November 19, 2006 .