The Irish News, 20 April 2005:

Family 'treated like dirt' over delay of report into murder

At a glance. . .

The family of a Catholic man who was murdered by loyalists in 1976 have hit out at the delay in publication of the report into his death

By Valerie Robinson

Southern Correspondent

Relatives of murdered Catholic forestry worker Seamus Ludlow have accused authorities of "treating us like dirt" for the past three decades.

The claim came as it emerged that it will be several weeks before the publication of a report by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Henry Barron into the killing by a loyalist gang.

Seamus Ludlow was abducted and killed by loyalist paramilitaries as he made his way home from a Dundalk pub in May 1976. His body was later recovered in a laneway close to the border.

Senior government officials last night insisted that Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was keen to publish the Barron report in full. However, the government is seeking advice on the risks posed by publicly naming a umber of individuals featured in the report.

While the names of Mr Ludlow's abductors and killers were made public by the media some time ago, the government must make its decision to name or shield individuals on a 'right to life' basis.

Official sources said there was still "no word" on a publication date, saying the taoiseach remained "anxious" to publish the report in full.

They said it was hoped that the report would be made public within weeks. The government received the report from Justice Barron last October.

Mr Ludlow's brother Kevin last night said it was a "disgrace" that six months after the taoiseach received the Barron report it had still not been published.

"This is typical of the cover-up that's been going on since Seamus was murdered 28 years ago," he said.

Mr Ludlow aldso claimed that his family would "receive very different treatment" if his 47-year-old brother had been murdered by the IRA.

"If Seamus had been killed by the IRA we would be getting the same publicity as (Belfast murder victim) Robert McCartney's family. But as soon as it became known that loyalists were behind Seamus' death, the authorities here did everything they could to sweep it under the carpet," he said.

He said he believed that the Irish government did not want to "embarrass" their British counterparts over evidence that his brother's killers were linked to the security forces.