The family
of Seamus Ludlow, the Thistle Cross forestry worker murdered by loyalist
paramilitaries have repeated their calls for a full independent public
inquiry into his murder.
They told
the Joint Oireactas Sub-Committee which began its investigation into the
Barron Report on his murder that they had been treated very badly by the
Gardai over the past thirty years.
According
to the Barron Report the names of the four loyalists involved in Mr
Ludlow’s killing were known to the Gardai since 1979. The family claim
that they were told nothing but lies by the Gardai.
At the
hearing in Leinster House last week, the murdered man’s last surviving
brother Kevin broke down as he recalled indentifying Seamus’ body.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” he said.
He said
the Gardai had treated the family very badly and had implied that his
brother was an IRA informer and that the IRA had murdered him.
“Seamus
definitely had nothing to do with the IRA,” he told the hearing.
“We
shouldn’t have had to go through all of this for 30 years,” he said.
“It wasn’t fair what was done to us. They were covering up the whole
thing all the time. It’s a shame to think of the way the Gardai acted.
We were treated very badly. Nothing only lies from the Gardai.”
Mr Ludlow
said they had thought the Gardai would tell them something but they
could not even tell them when the inquest was in 1979.
“The
Gardai never even said sorry for anything. Will it ever come? I don’t
know.” He added that he thought the family should get an apology.
A retired
garda detective told how his superiors failed to follow up information
about the murder of Seamus Ludlow.
John
Courtney told the committee yesterday (Tuesday) that he passed the names
of the main suspects in the case to a senior garda, but the case never
went any further.
Mr
Courtney said his superiors promised to follow up the information he
gave them, but "after that then, I don't know what happened. I
didn't hear any more about it."
“The
Barron report left a lot of unanswered questions. The forum for these to
be addressed is an independent public inquiry,” Mr Ludlow’s nephew,
Jimmy Sharkey told the hearing.
A nephew
of Seamus Ludlow, Michael Donegan told how his father Kevin had opened
the door of his Co Louth home to members of the UDR. He was taken away
for interrogation by helicopter to Northern Ireland and brought back
after an hour.
“A
murder in Dundalk shouldn’t have been any of their business and I
believe the British army knew about it from day one,” he stated.
Mr
Ludlow’s sister, Mrs Nan Sharkey, recalled her brother as “a good
fellow”.
“He
never gave any trouble. He was very kind. He kept to himself.”
Solicitor
Mr James MacGuill described the family as ordinary and law-abiding who
found themselves in a set of completely life-changing circumstances
which was compounded by the State authorities.