The Irish Times, 4 November 2005:

'If the IRA had killed him we would have been treated better'

Kevin Ludlow got a phone call from his solicitor yesterday morning saying the report on the murder of his brother Seamus was about to be published.

He said he'd be there, and drove the 100 miles from his Cavan home to outside Dublin, where he was met and brought to the city centre.

He was disappointed to discover that there was a delay, and perhaps the report would not be published after all. "I'm not fit for this," he told The Irish Times, "I'm nearly 70."

His brother, shot dead on May 2nd, 1976, was a "quiet man," he said. "He was a Fine Gael man, he thought the world of Paddy Donegan. He'd have a few pints, play the mouth organ and sing a song.

"There was no record of us in the Dundalk barracks. I was never even summonsed for a bicycle.

"My mother was 80 when we had to tell her he was killed. We told her it was hit and run. At the time we thought it was best. She never got over it, she died two years later.

"I didn't think we'd be looking for justice 29 years later. If the IRA had killed him we would have been treated better."

At 4 pm the family, including a number of nephews, were invited, by the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights to view the report, along with their solicitor, James McGuill.

Michael Donegan, a nephew, said afterwards the family needed more time to study the report. However, he added: "There is some reassurance in that the report says Seamus Ludlow was a blameless Catholic attacked by loyalists."

Mr Ludlow said: "It's a start after 29 years. We will get the truth. The people who told lies will have to tell the truth. We have to keep going and get satisfaction for Seamus.

"They said the IRA was involved. That was wrong."

Asked about his attitude to the gardai, he said: "They were the ones that told lies. The guards have a lot f questions to answer. We were treated like dirt. The way the guards spoke to my sisters was terrible.

"We hope the gardai will come out and tell us who they were protecting. It was not the Ludlow family.

"They could have had those boys arrested when Mr Courtney went up. They would have their time done and we could get on with our lives."

Mr McGuill added that the report was quite damning in that it showed how Mr Justice Barron had to write back and back again for information. "It bears out everything the family have been saying.

Copyright © 2005 the Ludlow family. All rights reserved.
Revised: November 27, 2005