Easy to Forget the Man - The First Inquest 1976 - Abduction of Kevin Donegan - An alleged "Family Affair" - More lies - The BIRW Report 1998 - Hosking's Witness Account 1998 - Ludlow Family Account 1998 - Sunday World report May 1976 - The Barron Inquiry - Draft Terms of Reference for the Barron Inquiry - A Fresh Inquest -  2005 Inquest Account - Meeting the Police Ombudsman - Ed Moloney Radio Interview - 25th Anniversary Commemoration - 25th Anniversary Oration - Profile - Questions - Photographs - Press Release - Letter to  RUC - Magill article 1999 - Press Coverage - Barron Report Published - Ludlow Family Response to Barron Report - Download the Barron Report from the Oireachtas website (pdf file) - Statement from Justice for the Forgotten - Joint Oireachtas Committee Request for Submissions - Joint statement from Justice for the Forgotten, Relatives for Justice and the Pat Finucane Centre - Download Transcript of Ludlow family meeting with Oireachtas Sub-Committee (Word file) - The Ludlow family at the Oireachtas Sub-Committee Hearing: 24 January 2006 - Justice for the Forgotten and British Irish Rights Watch (BIRW) address the Oireachtas Sub-Committee 24 January 2006 -  Publication of the Oireachtas Report - Download the Final Oireachtas Sub-Committee Report on the murder of Seamus Ludlow from the Oireachtas website (pdf file) -  Ludlow family press release in response to the Oireachtas Report - Meeting with An Taoiseach

Dundalk Bombing Report Finds Collusion - Download the Barron Report (pdf file) on the Dundalk bombing - Download the International Report on Collusion - Download the Oireachtas Committee Final Report on the Dundalk bombing and other collusion attacks

Original Ludlow Family website - Second Ludlow Family website - The Dundalk Bombing

Revised: January 26, 2008.

Thank you for visiting our website and please call again to hear more about the Ludlow family's campaign for a public inquiry into this innocent man's murder on 2 May 1976, and the subsequent state cover-up.

Seamus Ludlow, who was born 4 December 1929,  died at the hands of the British Army's Ulster Defence Regiment, and Red Hand Commando killers from County Down, in the north of Ireland.

The murder of Seamus Ludlow nearly 32 years ago raises issues that must be answered: a murder investigation abandoned by the garda after only 19 days; the garda smearing of the victim Seamus Ludlow through cruel lies told to the family; a rushed inquest held in the absence of and without the knowledge of the Ludlow family; the British Army's unexplained abduction and interrogation of Seamus Ludlow's brother-in-law; an RUC file naming four loyalist suspects covered-up since 1979; and, recently revealed, a prior warning from the RUC about Seamus Ludlow's killer which may have passed unheeded by the garda! 

These issues can only be raised properly at a public inquiry.  

Latest developments in this campaign can be followed on our What's New and Press Coverage pages.
 
Much has already been written about Seamus Ludlow's cruel death, and much of it has distorted the facts. The shocking photograph at right only came into the Ludlow family's possession in 2006 in advance of the fresh inquest that was held into the death of Seamus Ludlow. The photograph shows the brutal reality of a murder that was covered up for more than twenty years.

The photograph shows a real man, a good and decent man who was loved by his family, cruelly murdered by sectarian thugs who have been protected ever since by the garda and the RUC/PSNI. This is not a case that can or should be left in the past. The Ludlow family will see to that!

The Ludlow family has already exposed the vicious smear campaign that was used to blacken the reputation of the innocent victim and to protect his loyalist/British Army murderers. The family has exposed it both on the web and in the press and on TV.

The Ludlow family hopes that in the very near future there will be confirmation of a public inquiry from the Dublin Department of Justice. Shamefully, the Dublin authorities have resisted the Ludlow family demand from day one! This site will be updated with further information. Follow the links at the left margin and above to get to other pages.
  
The Ludlow family's search for truth and justice is led by Kevin Ludlow, the only surviving brother of Seamus Ludlow. Kevin Ludlow had maintained close contacts with the Gardai ever since his brother was murdered in May 1976. On several occasions he was deliberately misled - told that the IRA was involved and that his brother must have been an informer!. He was even told that a member of his own family was involved in his late brother's murder! Worse still, he was given the name of a particular relative. 

With his nephew Jimmy Sharkey, he has worked tirelessly to uncover the full truth behind his brother's murder and the reasons for the Gardai's failure to solve the crime. It has now been established that the killers' identities have ben known to the Garda since February 1979, and to the RUC since 1977 or even ealier. Despite, this neither the Garda nor the RUC took any action until twenty years later!

One of these UDR/Red Hand Commano killers was later convicted and jailed for another murder, while the second UDR soldier remained in the British Army for many years before retiring on pension - even though he was an identified suspect as early as 1977!

The Ludlow family was a for long period of time waiting on an important development in Dublin: the publication of a private Barron Inquiry report. The Barron Report, completed after a private inquiry into this murder by Mr Justice Henry Barron, was passed to the Irish government in October 2004. 

The Barron Report was finally published on 3 November 2005. Mr Justice Barron was highly critical of the Irish Garda for not going after the alleged killers of Seamus Ludlow in 1979, though he did not find evidence for collusion, among the files he was allowed to see. Such evidence may well exist in the files that are missing or destroyed. The publication of the Barron Report attracted intense press interest - see our Press Coverage page.

The Ludlow family issued a statement, to the press on 5 November in response to the Barron Report.

Download the Barron Report from the Oireachtas website (pdf file)

Read these excerpts from the published Barron Report:

PREFACE

THE WORK OF THE COMMISSION

THE GARDA INVESTIGATION

INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION

INFORMATION RECEIVED FROM RUC

COMPLAINTS OF LUDLOW-SHARKEY FAMILY

FURTHER INQUIRIES

RESPONSE TO LUDLOW FAMILY COMPLAINTS

DECISION OF DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS (NORTHERN IRELAND)

THE INQUEST

ALLEGATIONS OF IRA INVOLVEMENT IN LUDLOW MURDER

The Barron Report was to be examined by an Oireachtas sub-committee. On 6 December 2005 the Joint Oireachtas Sub-Committee on Justice published its formal request for public submissions in the national press. Submissions were sought from anyone who could assist the oireachtas committee and the Ludlow family to uncover the truth behind the murder of Seamus Ludlow. 

The examination of the Barron Report by the Joint Oireachtas Sub-Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights, including seven meetings in open session, began on 24 January 2006. The first meeting of  the  sub-committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights, chaired by Mr Sean Ardagh TD, heard oral submissions from the Ludlow family, followed by submissions from Justice for the Forgotten and British Irish Rights Watch, London. 

A transcript of Justice for the Forgotten's oral submission before the Oireachtas Sub-Committee on 24 January 2006 can be found on their excellent website>>>.

A Word file transcript of these submissions to the oireachtas sub-committee can be downloaded from the Oireachtas website at: http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/committees29thdail/jcjedwr/first-Ludlow-debates.doc. Excerpts from this transcript are also available on this site.

Press coverage of the seven open hearings of the oireachtas sub-committee can be found on our Press Coverage page. 

The oireachtas sub-committee produced a final report on 29 March 2006. The Ludlow family hoped that it would call for a public inquiry, but such hopes were dashed by a report that instead called for a"commission of inquiry" pursuaint to the Commissions of Investigations Act 2004. Another private inquiry, albeit one with powers to compel attendance of witnesses, powers of entry, and powers to order the discovery and/or the inspection of documents. Although it can conduct its investigation in public, where it coinsiders it proper to do so, this is still a private inquiry where the Ludlow family will be denied an active role in aiding the inquiry. The Ludlow family will have no overtsight or access to the evidence and witnesses seen by the inquiry. See the Ludlow family press release issued in response to this disturbing outcome of the Joint Oireachtas Committee hearings. Download a copy of this Final Report of the Oireachtas Sub-Committee from the Oireachtas website..

Significant progress was also made with a fresh inquest, held over two days on 5-6 September 2005. The  inquest, delayed since it was ordered by the Irish attorney general in July 2002, brought significant information into the public domain for the first time.The inquest also attracted considerable interest from press and broadcast media. Again this coverage can be accessed through our Press Coverage page.

A jury of 6 men and four women unanimously returned a verdict that Seamus Ludlow's death was an Unlawful Killing, caused by gunshot wounds, with the medical cause of death being shock and haemorrhage.

A number of important points also emerged from the inquest:

• Retired Dt Supt. John Courtney, who received a file naming four suspects, from the RUC in February 1979, stated that he was made aware of the four strong suspects in 1979 but was not given permission from Garda headquarters to pursue the investigation further. This was the first public admission that the murder investigation had been blocked by the Garda authorities in Dublin.

• The same four suspects were questioned in 1998 and two of the men gave similar accounts of their involvement. Again, this was a first public admission.

• No Garda was recorded as being given responsibility for contacting the Ludlow family for the first inquest in August 1976.

• Seamus Ludlow was not murdered by the IRA nor was he a member of the IRA. The suspicion of IRA involvement had been excluded from the murder investigation within three months of the murder, though the Ludlow family were never informed. Indeed, family members were still being told this lie nearly twenty years later!

• No trace of the victim's clothing or of two of the fatal bullets can be found.

See The Dundalk Democrat, 7 September 2005, for a detailed report of the inquest.See further information on our Whats New page.

The Ludlow family finally met with An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, at the Department of the Taoiseach, Government Buildings, Dublin, on 22 January 2008, after seeking such a meeting, without success, for almost ten years. 

The hour-long meeting was also attended by the Ludlow family solicitor James MacGuill, and by Jane Winter, of British Irish Rights Watch, London, a gallant supporter of the Ludlow family and other familires in their search for truth and justice.

The Ludlow family put forward proposals for a short focused inquiry to uncover the truth behind the cover-up that followed the murder in the Republic of Ireland. It was pointed out that the potential winesses and all the documentation relevant to such an inquiry are in the Irish State.

Further information regarding this cordial meeting with Mr Ahern can be found here>>>.

The Ludlow family has established an Appeal Fund (see below) to help with securing the necessary funds for a campaign which will continue to drain available resources for some time to come. Any donations, to the Appeal's account at the Bank of Ireland, Dundalk, of whatever size, will be deeply appreciated.

The Ludlow family thanks its many friends at home and abroad for supporting their campaign for truth and justice. There are too many to mention individually but British Irish Rights Watch (BIRW), London, the Pat Finucane Centre, Derry, Relatives for Justice, Belfast, and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, Dublin, and An Fhirinne are particularly deserving of our gratitude. The Ludlow family also appreciates the support now being received from good friends in the United States of America.  Web addresses for these organisations are given below.

BIRW has produced an independent report on the murder of Seamus Ludlow.

• Support the Seamus Ludlow Appeal Fund 

Bank of Ireland
78 Clanbrassil Street
Dundalk
County Louth
Ireland

Account No. 70037984 

Thank you. 

October/November 2005: A group of supporters kindly produced a music CD in aid of  our Seamus Ludlow Appeal Fund. The CD which is no longer available raised valuable funds for this campaign.

The CD features as its leading track An Ode To Seamus Ludlow written exclusively for the CD by Phil McCabe and brought to life by the voice talents of Tom Moore. To Phil and Tom and to all who helped produce this excellent CD, a sincere vote of thanks.

Find out more.>>>

Remember: You can download to your computer a complete copy of the Barron Report on the murder of Seamus Ludlow  from the Oireachtas website (pdf file)

You can also download the Final Oireachtas Sub-Committee Report on the murder of Seamus Ludlow from the Oireachtas website (pdf file)

Visitors are welcome to leave messages on our new Bravenet guestmap Guest Book. You can indicate your country or state of origin by using the map supplied.

The Ludlow family supports the campaign by the Rooney and Watters families of Dundalk for an inquiry into the murderous Dundalk Bombing of 19 December 1975 which resulted in the sectarian murder of Jack Rooney and Hugh Watters. 

A  Barron Report on this other sectarian attack in Dundalk, and other attacks along the border, was published 5 July 2006. 

An Oireachtas sub-committee also held public hearings on the Dundalk bombing and issued a further report on 29 November 2006.The Oireachtas report found damning evidence of British state collusion between UK army and intelligence agencies and loyalist terrorists in this and other atrocities along the border

Download: 

Download the Barron Report (pdf file) on the Dundalk bombing.

Download the International Report on Collusion from the Pat Finucane Centre website

Download the Oireachtas Report on the Dundalk bombing and other collusion attacks

Further information can be accessed at their Dundalk bombing campaign website.

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