1988 -
The late Seamus Ludlow is smeared
as an informer for British intelligence in the
book "Ambush The War between the SAS and the
IRA", by James Adams, Robin Morgan and
Anthony Bambridge, published by Pan Books. No
evidence or source for this lie is given, nor
have the authors or their publisher responded to
recent communications from the Ludlow family.
1990 - Further lies
about Seamus Ludlow being an informer murdered by
the IRA appear in "The SAS in action",
by Peter MacDonald, published by Sidgwick and
Jackson.
Publication by The Mercier Press
of Raymond Murray's "The SAS in
Ireland.", which refers (on pages 176-177)
to the murder of Seamus Ludlow and in particular
to the visit of British soldiers to the Donegan
family's door and to the late Kevin Donegan's
experience of interrogation by a British Army
officer at Bessbrook Mill. This story had never
been published before this and the Ludlow family
had never discussed it with Raymond Murray.
8 November 1991 - The
death of Paddy Ludlow (66), Marian Park, Dundalk,
the older brother of the late Seamus Ludlow.
Accompanying his younger brother Kevin, he was
one of the first to arrive at the murder scene
after their brother's body was discovered on 2
May 1976.
27 January 1992 - The
death of Kevin Donegan (72), Dromintee, County
Armagh, a brother-in-law of the late Seamus
Ludlow. Kevin lived with his wife Kathleen, a
sister of Seamus Ludlow. Kevin Donegan was taken
into custody by the British Army a few days after
Seamus Ludlow's murder and he was questioned,
among other things, about the Gardai's line
of inquiry. He also engaged in contacts with the
Gardai investigation team in 1976, and he was
told that the murder was a "family
affair."
October 1995 - An
investigative journalist Joe Tiernan informed the
Ludlow family that the Gardai had known all along
that Loyalists were responsible for Seamus
Ludlow's murder. He had learned this from retired
Detective Sergeant Owen Corrigan, who was
involved in the original murder investigation.
The killers were being protected from justice by
the Gardai and the RUC. Owen Corrigan has refused
to explain his actions to the Ludlow family.
2 May 1996 - 0n the 20th
anniversary of Seamus Ludlow's murder, the Ludlow
family held a press conference in Dublin, and
called on Garda Commissioner Mick Culligan, to
reopen the murder investigation. The case was
reopened soon after.
16 May 1996 - The Ludlow
family had the first of several meetings with the
Gardai.
16 January 1997 - In a
letter to a family solicitor, Garda D/Sergeant
Jim Gannon, of Dundalk Garda Station, who was
Sergeant at the local Dromad Garda Station, at
the border near Jonesborough, at the time of
Seamus Ludlow's murder made some interesting
comments: " . . . I attended a meeting in
Mrs. Sharkey's home on May 16th. last. Certain
information concerning the murder was brought to
my notice. This was the first I knew of this
information. Your client seemed of the opinion
that I should have had previous knowledge of this
matter.
"He accused me of
misleading him, of not having read over the
file and of not up-dating myself with what
was in it. I want to make it clear that I had
read the file many times and I saw nothing in
it relating to the information supplied to me
May 16th last.
"Your client told me
that the information came from an ex-member
of the Force. It would be of interest to find
out when the information first became known
and what this particular ex-member, who ever
he is, done about it at the time.
"In relation to the
inquest, I wish to state that a member
attached to Dundalk Station, had, at the
time, been given the task of notifying
witnesses and family of the inquest, but it
appears he overlooked your client. I only
became aware of this on the date of the
inquest and did everything I could to correct
the situation.
"As to apologies, I feel
that the better option would be for your
client and I to shake hands when we meet and
put our heads together again in a further
effort to find the culprits for his brother's
murder."
The above letter was written just
a year before the emergence of new evidence of a
Garda cover-up involving Gardai at Dundalk and
confirmation there was indeed a file containing
the names of the killers of Seamus Ludlow.
1998 - A revised edition
of Peter MacDonald's "The SAS in
Action" is published by Pan Books, and no
response has been received by the Ludlow
family following letters written to the author
and his publisher.
13 April 1999 - In a
letter to Mo Mowlam, Britain's Secretary of State
in Belfast, Liz O'Donnell, Minister of State for
Foreign Affairs in Dublin, referred to her
government's 11-page assessment of the British
Irish Rights Watch (BIRW) report on the murder of
Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane. Her words could
not have been better argued by the Ludlow family
in their justification of a public inquiry for
the murder of Seamus Ludlow.
Here was a Dublin Minister
demanding of the British the very mechanism that
her own Government was refusing to the Ludlow
family and the victims of the Dublin, Monaghan
and Dundalk bombings of the 1970s.
The Minister's letter included:
"As the assessment argues, the Finucane case
and the associated allegations of collusion,
fulfill the fundamental requirement of a public
inquiry - i.e. that the matter under
consideration is of urgent public interest. The
accumulated evidence is sufficient to give
reasonable cause to the public to believe that
collusion may have taken place. Moreover, the
allegations in question serve to undermine
confidence in the rule of law and the concept of
equality before the law. In my view, they can
only be answered with confidence - one way or the
other - through the mechanism of a public
inquiry."
14 April 1999 - In reply
to the above mentioned letter of 7 March to the
RUC Chief Constable, Chief Superintendent G.W.
Sillery, for the Chief Constable, thanked the
Ludlow family for indicating the questions that
they would like to discuss with Mr. Flanagan. He
continued: "You will appreciate I am sure
that any meeting on your issues would be more
appropriate after the Director of Public
Prosecutions has given his decision on the
investigation file currently with him.
"I will communicate
further with you when the DPP's decision is
at hand."
Given that the RUC had requested
the list of questions in the first place, it was
evidently a probing exercise since there was
clearly no intention of allowing such a meeting
to take place. Even though the DPP made his
decision known on 15 October 1999, the
Chief Constable has made no response to the
family's request for a meeting.
19 April 1999 - In a
letter to the Ludlow family Mr. Ken Livingstone
MP said that he gave the Ludlow family "my
wholehearted backing."
In another letter, dated 19
April, to the Ludlow family's solicitor, Garda
Chief Superintendent Ted Murphy, confirmed that
his investigation was completed. He responded to
the solicitor's request for access to his report
with: "Because of the Confidential nature of
the report I am unable to provide you with a copy
thereof."
30 April 1999 - In a
letter to An Garda Siochana, the family's
solicitor responded to the refusal to give access
to the Murphy Inquiry report: "It appears to
defeat the purpose of reassuring the family that
a proper investigation has been carried out into
the original misconduct - if they are to be
denied access to the outcome of that
investigation. Perhaps you would be good enough
to re-consider the matter and let us hear from
you."
 5 May
1999 - The Irish News newspaper in Belfast
reported the unveiling of a new memorial plaque
in the lane off the Bog Road where the body of
Seamus Ludlow was discovered on 2 May 1976. This
new stone replaced a plaque that had marked the
spot for several years.
16 May 1999 - Several
members of the Ludlow family, including Kevin
Ludlow and his sister Nan Sharkey, and younger
members of the family circle, were in Dublin on
this day for a very special occasion. They had
responded to a special invitation from the
Justice for the Forgotten group to attend the
25th anniversary commemoration ceremonies
for the 34 people who were murdered and the many
more who were injured in the Dublin and Monaghan
bombings of May 1974.
The crowd gathered first at the
Talbot Street monument to the dead of that day
and then walked on to the other bomb sites at
Parnell Street and South Leinster Street. Brief
talks were given at each of the three bomb sites
before the gathering assembled at the gates of
Leinster House. Not even one TD was in
attendance. Jimmy Sharkey addressed the gathering
on behalf of the Ludlow family and copies of the
independent British Irish Rights Watch report and
other documentation were handed out.
19 May 1999 - Tom Brady,
writing in the Irish Independent newspaper,
reported that the Dublin Government "is to
order a full inquiry" into the murder
of Seamus Ludlow. The inquiry, he wrote, "
will focus on a recent garda investigation which
has concluded that the names of four prime
suspects for the shooting of Dundalk man Seamus
Ludlow were known since 1979.
"The suspects were not
interviewed by either the gardai or other police
forces until last year - despite the intelligence
pinpointing their involvement in the crime.
"The report, which was
recemntly submitted by the gardai to the
Government, is likely to pose embarrassing
questions for former senior members of the gardai
and RUC."
Mr. Brady also reported that a
file received from the RUC in 1979 was
"understood to have been sent to the offices
of five chief superintendents and an assistant
commissioner but no action was taken. There is
likely to be conflicting evidence from retired
members of the force as to why the investigation
was not reopened at that stage."
23 July 1999 - In a letter
to the Ludlow family, the Assistant Private
Secretary to the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern,
advised:
"that the
Commissioner of the Garda Siochana is
finalising a report on the matter, which will
then be presented to the Minister for
Justice. You will appreciate that it would
not be appropriate for the Taoiseach to
comment on specific issues relating to the
matter in advance of the report becoming
available and its consideration by the
Minister."
27 July 1999 - In a letter
to Mr. Seamus Mallon MP, Newry and Armagh,
Mr. John O'Donoghue TD, Minister for Justice,
wrote:
"As you are aware,
in response to representations made by Mr.
Ludlow's family, the Garda Commissioner, in
May 1996, arranged for senior officers in the
Louth/Meath Division to meet with the Ludlow
family with a view to establishing how best
to proceed with this matter. As a consequence
of their findings, the Commissioner directed
that a senior officer from the National
Bureau of criminal Investigation (NBCI)
should further pursue the investigation. This
he did, in conjunction with RUC officers,
resulting in a number of people being
arrested outside the State. An investigation
file has been forwarded to the DPP, Northern
Ireland and his decision is now awaited. The
Garda Commissioner is now finalising a report
on the investigation into the murder of Mr.
Ludlow which will be given careful
consideration when received."
5 August 1999 - The Irish
Victims Commissioner Mr.
John Wilson, released his report A Place and
a Name, in which he calls for a private inquiry
into Seamus Ludlow's murder and the Garda
cover-up, with the final report held secret until
after any court proceedings in Belfast. No
details of the inquiry's term of reference were
given. The Ludlow family reiterated their demand
for a full and public inquiry.
10 August 1999 - The
Ludlow family responded to the Victims
Commission's Report with a letter to Mr. John
Wilson: "Where the family broadly welcomes
your report and that your recommendation for an
independent inquiry into the murder of Seamus
Ludlow, the family are extremely angry and
disappointed that the inquiry is to be held in
private. We, the family, suspect an air of
suspicion that the inquiry is to be held in
private and that this would not give the family a
level playing field.
"As that the inquiry is to
be held in private is the only recommendation, we
would hope before you meet your Government, you
would give serious consideration to the family's
demand that the inquiry be held in public. .
.".
This photograph of the Victims
Commission's Report links to further information
about the Ludlow family's reaction to the
decision in favour of a private inquiry.
8 September 1999 - In a
letter to Bertie Ahern, Donncha O'Connell, of the
Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), Dublin,
reacted to the recent Victims Commission's
report. While ICCL welcomed the report's
recommendation of judicial inquiries into Seamus
Ludlow's murder and those of the victims of the
Dublin and Monaghan bombings, Mr. O'Connell
added:
"We are, however
disappointed that the Commission came out
against public inquiries in both cases and we
fully support the call by the relatives of
Seamus Ludlow for a public inquiry. We trust
that the terms of reference for such an
inquiry will be drawn sufficiently widely to
deal with both the murder of Seamus Ludlow
and the apparent cover-up which followed his
murder. The Ludlow case has become somewhat
lost in all of the media attention
surrounding the Dublin-Monaghan bombings but
we feel that the response of the Victims
Commission to that case is no less worthy of
urgent attention . . .".
29 September 1999 - Bertie
Ahern formally announced the holding of private
inquiries along the lines of those envisaged by
Victims Commissioner John Wilson, into the
Dublin-Monaghan and Dundalk bombings and the
murder of Seamus Ludlow - but no precise details
of terms of reference were given.
Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin had
placed a question for oral answer on that
date:
"To ask the Taoiseach if
he will establish a public inquiry into the
murder of Mr. Seamus Ludlow."
In his answer, Mr. Ahern said:
"In the case of Seamus
Ludlow, Mr. Wilson also recommended that an
independent, private enquiry be carried out
by a former Supreme Court Judge but, in order
not to compromise any criminal prosecution,
this enquiry should not publish its Report. .
.".
12 October 1999 - A member
of the Ludlow family attended the launch of the Border
Relatives Group at a press conference in
Dublin. The group would represent several
families along the border who had suffered loss
caused by loyalist/British murder gangs.
13 October 1999 - In a
letter to Kevin Ludlow, brother of the late
Seamus Ludlow, the Taoiseach's Private Secretary,
confirming the Government's intention
"having considered all aspects of the
matter, including the various representations
made . . . to accept the recommendation of the
Victims Commission in regard to an inquiry into
the murder of Mr. Ludlow", he added:
"The Taoiseach is asking the Minister for
Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr. John
O'Donoghue, TD to meet you at an early date, in
order to discuss with you the arrangements to
make for the inquiry."
The Ludlow family had being
trying, without success, to secure a meeting with
Mr. Ahern himself.
Continued....
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