The Irish Independent: 04 November 2005:

Gene McKenna
and Brian Dowling

Ludlow family insists public inquiry is crucial for justice 

THE family of murdered Dundalk man Seamus Ludlow insisted last night that only an independent public inquiry will satisfy their demands for justice.

They said they were never motivated by compensation and that was still the case. What they wanted were the full facts to come out.

Mr Ludlow's nephew, Jimmy Sharkey, said the report confirmed what the family had been saying for almost 30 years - that there had been major mishandling of the case. He said it was difficult for the family to comment as they had not had time to read the full report, but it appeared Mr Justice Barron had not seen all the files and the family still believed there was "an element of collusion" in the murder.

He hoped the Oireachtas sub-committee, which would now consider the report, would be able to come up with answers to outstanding questions. "We will be going to the Oireachtas hearings and it is up to us to put our case for an independent public inquiry," he said. Mr Ludlow's brother, Kevin, said they had been treated "absolutely like dirt".

Justice Minister Michael McDowell said earlier it was regrettable that the Ludlow family were not informed that the report was to be published yesterday.

Mr McDowell told the Dail he had made arrangements to deliver a copy of the report to the family.

Last night Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said the report would not cause friction between the British and Irish governments.

Copyright © 2005 the Ludlow family. All rights reserved.