I WANT FIRST OF ALL TO THANK JIMMY, KEVIN AND MICHAEL FOR
INVITING ME TO SPEAK HERE TO MARK THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF SEAMUS LUDLOW'S DEATH.
I DON'T NORMALLY MAKE PUBLIC SPEECHES ABOUT ARTICLES I AND
OTHER JOURNALISTS HAVE WRITTEN BUT AFTER CAREFUL THOUGHT I CONCLUDED THAT IT
WAS NECESSARY TO BREAK THAT RULE IN THE CASE OF SEAMUS LUDLOW.
AS WE ALL KNOW TWENTY-FIVE LONG YEARS HAVE PASSED SINCE THAT DREADFUL NIGHT
WHEN HE WAS SHOT AND DUMPED IN THIS SMALL LANEWAY BUT SEAMUS LUDLOW'S FAMILY
ARE NO NEARER GETTING THE TRUTH AND JUSTICE THEY DESERVE THAN THEY WERE
THEN.
WE DO HOWEVER KNOW A GREAT DEAL MORE ABOUT THE EVENTS OF THAT NIGHT NOW THAN
EVER BEFORE.
WE KNOW THE NAME OF THE LOYALIST KILLER WHO PULLED THE TRIGGER;
WE KNOW WHY HE WAS IN CO LOUTH THAT NIGHT AND WHO WAS WITH HIM;
WE KNOW THAT THE GARDAI KNEW ALL THIS NOT LONG AFTER SEAMUS LUDLOW WAS
KILLED;
WE KNOW THAT THE RUC SPECIAL BRANCH HAD THIS INFORMATION AS WELL; AND WE
KNOW THAT THE AUTHORITIES IN THIS STATE BEHAVED DISGRACEFULLY TO THE LUDLOW
FAMILY.
WE KNOW THAT THEY LIED TO AND MISLED THE FAMILY ABOUT WHO KILLED THEIR
BROTHER AND UNCLE.
WE KNOW THAT THEY CRUELLY, DELIBERATELY DIVIDED THE
LUDLOW'S, PITCHING SIBLING AGAINST SIBLING, COUSIN AGAINST COUSIN FOR THE BEST PART OF TWO DECADES, YEARS THAT CAN NEVER BE RECOVERED.
WE KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF SEAMUS LUDLOW'S DEATH TO SUSPECT
THAT ALL THIS WAS DONE, ALL THESE LIES AND DECEPTIONS PERPETRATED IN ORDER
TO PROTECT THE GUNMAN WHO KILLED SEAMUS LUDLOW AND TO COVER UP THE COVER UP
BOTH IN THE NORTH AND IN THIS JURISDICTION.
WHAT MADE THIS MAN SO SPECIAL THAT FOR YEARS NO ACTION WAS TAKEN AGAINST HIM
AND SO MANY LIES TOLD TO PROTECT HIM?
WE KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT TO ASK THAT THE STATE SHOULD
FORMALLY AND PUBLICLY THROW OPEN ITS SECRET FILES SO THAT AT LAST THE LUDLOW
FAMILY CAN HAVE PEACE OF MIND.
EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK THESE DAYS THERE ARE PUBLIC TRIBUNALS AND JUDICIAL
INQUIRIES MANY OF THEM DESIGNED TO LAY TO REST GHOSTS OF THE NORTHERN
CONFLICT.
THE GOVERNMENT IN THIS JURISDICTION HAS BEEN TO THE FORE IN PRESSING THE
BRITISH TO SWEEP THE SKELETONS OUT OF THEIR CUPBOARDS BUT WHAT ABOUT THEIR
SKELETONS?
WHAT HAS THE LUDLOW FAMILY BEEN OFFERED?
A SECRET, PRIVATE INVESTIGATION WHOSE DELIBERATIONS, UNLIKE THOSE IN THE
GUILDHALL OR IN DUBLIN CASTLE WILL BE KEPT FROM PUBLIC VIEW AND SCRUTINY AND
WHOSE OUTCOME MAY OR MAY NOT BE FOLLOWED UP. AN INQUIRY INTO WHETHER THERE
SHOULD BE AN INQUIRY IN OTHER WORDS.
HOW CAN IT BE RIGHT TO DEMAND FROM THE BRITISH THAT THEY
COME CLEAN ABOUT THEIR MISDEEDS TOWARDS CITIZENS IN THE NORTH YET DENY THE
SAME RIGHTS TO THEIR OWN CITIZENS?
WHY ARE THEY SO FRIGHTENED OF THE SECRET, HIDDEN STORY OF
SEAMUS LUDLOW'S DEATH? IF, TRULY, THERE IS NOTHING TO HIDE, NOTHING TO BE
ASHAMED OF, THEN COME OUT IN THE OPEN AND SHOW EVERYONE. ONLY THE GUILTY
SKULK IN DARK CORNERS. THE INNOCENT CRY OUT FOR THE LIGHT.
IT'S TIME WE WERE TOLD THE TRUTH.
The Commemoration: I 1 I 2
I 3 I 4 I
