The Murder of Seamus Ludlow in County Louth, May 1976. Towards a public inquiry?
The Murder of Seamus Ludlow in County Louth, May 1976. Towards a public inquiry?
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Introduction to the murder of Seamus Ludlow and the official cover-up. Michael Cunningham investigation - 1978 The recent Campaign for Truth and Justice. Irish Victims Commission Report. Ludlow family's questions for the RUC (now the PSNI). Jim J. Kane's letter to the N I Human Rights Commission. Jim J. Kane's letter to the RUC Ludlow Family Letter to Bertie Ahern Other Ludlow Family Sites. |
The Irish News, 23 February 2002: 'Public inquiry needed' By Simon Doyle AT A GLANCE... Relatives of a Co Louth man murdered in 1976 have been told that an inquiry is imminent
The Republic's attorney general has told relatives of a Co Louth man murdered by loyalists in 1976 that an inquiry into the killing is imminent. The family of Seamus Ludlow said attorney general Michael McDowell told them in Dublin yesterday that an investigation headed by Mr Justice Henry Barron would begin soon. Mr Ludlow, a 47-year-old forestry worker, was found shot and dumped in a laneway near his border home in May 1976. The murder was initially blamed by gardai on the IRA, but evidence mounted over the years to implicate a unit of UDR and Red Hand Commando members. His family has been involved in a long campaign to uncover the truth behind the killing, amid allegations of a cover-up by security forces on both sides of the border. The Irish government said it would investigate the 1976 killing but the family said it had not been consulted about the pending inquiry. The family travelled to Dublin where attorney general Michael McDowell said Judge Barron, who is also investigating the Dublin-Monaghan bombings, would head the inquiry. Mr Ludlow's nephew Michael Donegan was accompanied on the trip to Dublin by Jane Winter, director of British Irish Rights Watch. The attorney general asked the family to cooperate with the investigation but Ms Winter said the Ludlow family insisted that only a full public inquiry would suffice. She said the family was not happy with the private inquiry because it would not allow them to participate in a meaningful fashion. "The Ludlow family has a right to be meaningfully involved in any investigation and the problem with the private commission of inquiry that is on offer is that they would not have any opportunity to scrutinise the evidence that the judge will be scrutinising. "They might spot things that he might not spot because of their local and detailed knowledge and very unwillingly they have become the experts on Seamus Ludlow's murder over the years," she said. Ms Winter added that the family asked the attorney general if he would discuss with Judge Barron whether the case could be broadened to include family involvement. "The family made it very clear that what they want is a public inquiry. If a way can be found for the private commission of inquiry to lead to a public inquiry, as long as they can be properly involved in it, they won't be unreasonable about it. Bur at the moment they are not happy with the proposal as it stands," she said.
I Homepage I I Top I I Press Coverage I I BIRW Report I I Draft Terms of Reference for Private Inquiry I The Dundalk Democrat, 23 February 2002: Meeting with Attorney General The Dundalk Democrat, 2 March 2002: Ludlow murder: Relatives draw a blank in meeting with McDowell
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