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 Sunday Tribune, 20 May 2001: Inquiry into Louth murder criticised Catherine Cleary The solicitor for the family of murdered Louth man Seamus Ludlow, has accused the government of presenting a "veneer of movement" in the face of calls for a public inquiry into the involvement of security forces in his death. The brother and nephew of the 47-year-old timber worker who was murdered 25 years ago this month attempted to hand a letter to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern at the cabinet meeting at Ballymascanlon Hotel outside Dundalk. Kevin Ludlow and nephew Jimmy Sharkey presented the letter to Justice Minister John O'Donoghue after they were told the Taoiseach would not be accepting it. "They want to give a veneer of movement on this," solicitor James MacGuill said last week, describing the official reaction to family calls for a public inquiry. The government was displaying a "dual standard," he said, supporting public inquiries into allegations of security force collusion in murders in Northern Ireland and resisting the same examination of murders in the Republic. Ludlow was shot dead 300 yards from the hotel in May 1976. The family has said that the garda investigation into his murder was closed after just three weeks. By 1979, a file containing the names of three loyalist suspects had been supplied to gardai. No attempt has been made to investigate the suspects. Instead, the family said Ludlow's name was smeared when it was suggested that he was murdered by the IRA for informing. An internal garda inquiry has been conducted recently into the handling of the murder investigation. "We were promised we'd get access to this report and we haven't," Ludlow's nephew Jimmy Sharkey said. "We would be happy enough if they would allow our legal team to see it." In the letter delivered on Monday, the family called on the Taoiseach to met them. "we want to know why these killers were protected from justice," they wrote and the questions could only be explained adequately through a public inquiry, similar to the Saville Tribunal into the Bloody Sunday shootings. Meanwhile, a Department of Justice spokesman refused to expand on comments by Justice Minister John O'Donoghue that he was considering allowing access by the families of those murdered in the troubles to the investigation files.
I Homepage I I Top I I Press Coverage I The Dundalk Democrat, Saturday 5th May 2001: Seamus Ludlow commemorated at simple but moving ceremony. Treated like a dog and thrown in a ditch. The Dundalk Democrat, 19 May 2001: Justice Minister meets murder victims' families The Dundalk Democrat, 26 May 2001: Ludlow relatives have further meeting with minister |
