Ahern to raise Ludlow murder with Hain

09 September 2005 14:33

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, has said he will raise the murder of a Co Louth forestry worker by loyalists with the Northern Ireland Secretary, Peter Hain.

The family of Seamus Ludlow had asked the minister to raise the issue to find out why no one was ever prosecuted for the murder, despite the fact that two men made statements admitting their role in the killing in May 1976 near Dundalk.

The family have always claimed there has been a cover-up on both sides of the border following the murder.

The inquest into the killing was told earlier this week that in 1998, the then RUC arrested and questioned four men. Two of them independently gave evidence of how and where the murder was committed.

However, the Director of Public Prosecutions in Northern Ireland decided not to press charges.

The inquest was also told that in 1979, the gardaí had the names and addresses of the same four men but Garda Headquarters did not allow the investigating gardaí to proceed.

A spokesperson for the minister said the matter would be raised with Mr Hain.

Meanwhile, the Government is still considering the legal advice it got with the report by Mr Justice Henry Barron into the murder of Mr Ludlow.

The Barron Report into the killing was presented to the Taoiseach's office in October of last year.

A spokesperson said the report would be brought to Cabinet in the near future. After that it will go to an Oireachtas committee which will then publish it.