Here is the full
text of the independent report compiled by British Irish RIGHTS WATCH
(BIRW). The report was
launched by Jane Winter, Director of BIRW, at
a press conference at Buswells Hotel, Dublin
and a public meeting later that evening at
Dundalk Town Hall on 18 February 1999.
Jane Winter flew in
to Dublin airport early that morning and
spent an exhausting day with the Ludlow
family, before going on to further important
business in Dublin the next day.
Jane Winter also
flew to Ireland later in the year for the
Ludlow family's meeting with Mr. John
O'Donoghue, the Irish Minister for Justice.
This meeting was an unfortunate encounter for
the minister proved quite hostile to the
Ludlow family deputation and very little of
value to the Ludlow family's campaign for
truth and justice was achieved.
The BIRW Report was
also the subject of debate in Leinster House,
the Dublin parliament, as the year came to a
close when Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, in an
answer to a TD's question, appeared to deny
the very existence of the BIRW Report, even
though he had personally received copies. In
a further answer, Mr. Ahern qualified his
earlier remark by appearing to make little of
the BIRW Report.
The Ludlow family
is eternally grateful to Jane Winter and her
colleagues at British Irish RIGHTS WATCH for
everything that they have done on their
behalf. They have given invaluable assistance
to the Ludlow family's campaign for truth and
justice.
The
original BIRW report consists of a title page
and seven pages of text.
British Irish
Rights Watch
THE DEATH OF SEAMUS LUDLOW
FEBRUARY 1999
This report has been
prepared by British Irish RIGHTS WATCH, a
non-governmental organization that monitors the
human rights dimension of the conflict and peace
process in Northern Ireland. Its services are
available to anyone whose human rights have been
affected by the conflict, regardless of
religious, political or community affiliation.
This statement is intended to be an impartial
account of the facts of Seamus Ludlow's case.
Wherever possible those facts have been verified
by reference to documentary evidence, and the
source is indicated in the footnotes to this
statement. Where information is based solely on
our discussions with Seamus Ludlow's family, that
fact is clearly indicated.
Seamus Ludlow was born in
1929. He lived just south of the border for 47
years, at Mountpleasant, Dundalk, County Louth
with his mother and sister's family. At the time
of events described in this statement he was
unmarried and was a forestry worker. He was a
Catholic and according to his family had no
connections with any paramilitary organization.
On Saturday 1 May 1976
Seamus Ludlow had spent the evening drinking at
various bars.1 He
left the Lisdoo Arms and was seen shortly after
midnight outside a garage hitching a lift home,
which was about two miles away. 2 Seamus Ludlow failed to return
home. His sister, Mrs. Nan Sharkey, began a
search for her brother the following morning, 2
May 1976. 3 His
body was found that day by a tourist around
3.00pm in a lane just half a mile from his home,
at Culfore near Dundalk. 4 A post-mortem examination was
carried out by Dr John Harbinson, the State
Pathologist. According to the post-mortem report,
the body was lying on top of a grassy bank beside
the lane. The post-mortem report concluded that
Seamus Ludlow died from shock and hemorrhage as a
result of bullet wounds in his heart, right lung
and liver. Three bullets were retrieved from
Seamus Ludlow's clothing and body and handed to
Detective Garda Niland. 5 The pathologist
offered no opinion in the post-mortem report
regarding the calibre of bullets that killed him.
This report noted that Seamus Ludlow's shoes
"looked remarkably clean in view of the
muddy nature of the lane in which the body was
found". This led the murder investigation
team at Dundalk Garda Station to conclude that
Seamus Ludlow had been murdered elsewhere and
dumped near his home. 6
As the body
was found south of the Irish border the
investigation into the murder of Seamus Ludlow
was conducted by the Irish Police, An Garda
Siochana. The investigation was headed by
Superintendent Dan Murphy (now deceased) from
Dublin Castle, together with a team of thirty
detectives from Dublin and Dundalk. Local
newspapers reported soon after the killing that
the Gardai were investigating the possibility
that Seamus Ludlow had been mistaken by his
murderers for a top republican living in the area
and on the wanted list of the SAS and the
outlawed loyalist paramilitary group the Ulster
Volunteer Force. 7 However, after three weeks of
investigating the murder the Gardai suspended
their initial investigation without explanation. 8 A local Garda has recently
informed the Ludlow family that he believed
orders to halt the investigation into the murder
came from Dublin. 9 No one has ever been charged
with the murder of Seamus Ludlow.
According to
family sources, an important line of enquiry was
ignored by the Gardai namely, that Seamus Ludlow
was a victim of British Army or loyalist killers
intent on murdering a top Provisional IRA man.
His family also criticised the Gardai failure to
question in connection with the killing a group
of eight SAS men found over the border shortly
after Seamus Ludlow's murder.
More
particularly, Seamus Ludlow's relatives have
accused the Gardai of conducting an orchestrated
and persistent smear campaign against the dead
man by making allegations that he was murdered by
the IRA for being an informer. His family has
claimed that this theory was spread by both the
Gardai in Dundalk and the investigating murder
squad in Dublin without any supporting evidence.
Two family members were told separately and by
different members of the Gardai that Seamus
Ludlow had been killed by the IRA for informing
and that other family members had known about the
planned killing beforehand. Seamus Ludlow's
brother-in-law, Kevin Donegan (now deceased),
contacted the Gardai regularly after the murder
to find out about the progress of the
investigation. According to his son Michael
Donegan, he was consistently told that Seamus
Ludlow had been killed by the IRA and that
members of his family had colluded with them. The
IRA denied any responsibility for the murder of
Seamus Ludlow shortly after his death. 10
It has also
been alleged by the dead man's family that the
British Army took an interest in the
investigations conducted by the Gardai. The day
after Seamus Ludlow's funeral, a British Army
patrol called to Kevin Donegan's home, which was
north of the border. According to his son Michael
Donegan, he was informed that they had been sent
by the Northern Irish police force, the Royal
Ulster Constabulary, to find out about the line
of enquiry being pursued by the Gardai. Kevin
Donegan refused to speak to them but later went
to Forkhill barracks to talk with the RUC.
However, no police were present, only army
personnel. He was airlifted to Bessbrook army
base where a British officer questioned him for
over an hour on the Gardai investigations. The
family has stated that no member of the RUC has
ever questioned them about the case or shown any
interest in it. 11
An inquest
into the death of Seamus Ludlow was held at
County Louth on 19 August 1976 and conducted by
Coroner Dr Thomas Edward Scully. Copies of three
typed depositions by the State Pathologist,
Sergeant Gannon and Kevin Ludlow presented at the
inquest have been obtained. The latter two
depositions are formal identifications. No other
original documents which are likely to be
relevant to an inquest, such as a formal findings
or verdict, directions to register the death,
ballistics or forensic reports have been seen.
The deposition of Kevin Ludlow is unsigned and
undated, he did not attend the inquest. At the
bottom of the deposition a hand written note by
the Coroner states:
"not
in attendance - just back Working in Newry.
Could not be contacted".
A member of
the Gardai called to Kevin Ludlow's home 45
minutes before the inquest began. He was at work
and could not be contacted in time. In fact no
member of Seamus Ludlow's family attended the
inquest. According to family sources, the Gardai
deliberately ensured that no member of the family
or its legal representative was present at the
inquest. The family complained that no attempt
was made to inform or contact Seamus Ludlow's
sister, Mrs. Nan Sharkey, with whom he had lived.
This was admitted by Detective Sergeant Gannon in
a letter to Mrs. Sharkey's solicitors dated 16
January 1997:
"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."
Seamus
Ludlow's family have also alleged that Detective
Sergeant Gannon falsely represented himself as
the family's representative at the inquest.12
A local
newspaper, The Dundalk Democrat,
reported the inquest at the time. No reference
was made to any ballistics report. It reported
that the only evidence offered to the inquest by
the Gardai was the pathologist's evidence. The
jury returned a verdict in accordance with the
medical evidence, that death was due to gunshot
wounds.
Most family
members only recently saw the three inquest
depositions mentioned above, and none of them had
seen the pathologist's report until British Irish
RIGHTS WATCH obtained a copy. 13
For 20 years
Seamus Ludlow's murder remained unsolved.
Approximately three years ago evidence regarding
the murder was brought to his family's attention
by an investigative journalist, Joe Tiernan. 14 According to family
sources, they were informed by Joe Tiernan that
loyalist paramilitaries from Northern Ireland had
murdered Seamus Ludlow, not the IRA. They were
also told that the Gardai knew of this all along.
Joe Tiernan revealed to the family that the
source of this information was a retired
detective. As a result of this new evidence his
family sent a file to the Garda Commissioner, who
at the time was Patrick Culligan, and requested
that the case be re-opened. This was done on 16
May 1996. Chief Superintendent Ted Murphy, from
the Garda Drug Squad, was appointed to head the
inquiry into the original investigation.
According to Seamus Ludlow's family, Chief
Superintendent Murphy has since admitted openly
to the family that crucial evidence identifying
the killers of Seamus Ludlow had been available
to the Gardai all along. This evidence was in the
original investigation file when he began his
inquiry and he could offer the family no
explanation as to why the Gardai had acted as
they had.
This appears
to have been confirmed by reports in the Sunday
Tribune that the family were informed
by a senior detective that the identities of
Seamus Ludlow's murderers were known to the
Gardai not long after his death. It was known
that they were members of the loyalist murder
gang from Northern Ireland, the Red Hand
Commando, a member of which was giving
information to the authorities.15 The Red Hand Commando
was an offshoot of the Ulster Volunteer Force.
About 3 years after the murder, the suspects'
names were given to a member of the Seamus Ludlow
murder squad, Detective Chief Superintendent John
Courtney, by the RUC. He along with a colleague
had travelled across the border to the RUC's
headquarters in Belfast, where he was given the
names of at least 3 prime suspects responsible
for Seamus Ludlow's murder. This information was
passed to his superiors and placed on a file with
other sensitive information given by the RUC, but
was never acted upon by the Gardai.16 As part of the inquiry into
the original investigation, Detective Chief
Superintendent Courtney (now retired) has been
interviewed.17 Seamus
Ludlow's family were informed in November 1998
that the Gardai investigation led by Detective
Superintendent Ted Murphy was now complete and a
file has been handed to the Gardai Commissioner.18
The names of
these suspects were uncovered as a result of an
investigation conducted by a Dublin Sunday paper, The Sunday Tribune. One of
the suspects, Paul Hosking, a 41 year old from
Newtownards in Northern Ireland provided this
paper with an in-depth interview regarding the
events which led to Seamus Ludlow's murder on 1
May 1976.19 He also provided RUC Special Branch
officers with the same account of events over 10
years ago in 1987 and again more recently,
between 17 and 20 February 1998. This latter
interview was given to the RUC following his
arrest, along with 3 former Red Hand Commando
members.
According to
Paul Hosking, on 1 May 1976 he was drinking in
his local bar in Comber with a few friends. By
chance, he met up with three other men who he
knew socially. These three men were known to be
members of the Red Hand Commando, two of whom
were also members of the Ulster Defence Regiment
(UDR). One was a captain in the UDR, the second
was also an officer. The third man was from
Bangor and nicknamed "Mambo". The pub
was deserted, so Paul Hosking spent the afternoon
with them. He noticed that the UDR men were
armed.
Paul Hosking together with
the three men moved on to another pub. They drove
the second UDR officer's car, a two-door yellow
Datsun. Paul Hosking was in the rear passenger
seat with the UDR captain and Mambo was in the
front passenger seat. These seating arrangements
did not change over the period in question. This
pub was also quiet so the UDR captain made a
suggestion. According to Paul Hosking, he
". . . mentioned
that there were supposed to be IRA checks
along the Border. It was information
obviously from the UDR that they were doing
something on the Border. He said do you fancy
going down to spy on them? I said great, it
was like an adventure."
They were waved through a
permanent British Army checkpoint after the
driver showed his UDR pass. They spent about an
hour in a pub in Omeath where Paul Hosking
watched a football match on his own away from the
others. It was after closing time when they left
the pub. Paul Hosking said that by then he was
quite drunk as he had consumed around 13 or 14
pints that day. They then drove south towards
Dundalk where they came across a man thumbing a
lift. the car stopped and they let the man into
the back of the car. After a short time the man
pointed out to them where he lived. According to
Paul Hosking:
"We went on down
anyway and I remember him reversing up a wee
lane. Mambo got out and pulled the seat back
and I got out. I went over the hedge near the
front of the car. I was standing having a pee
and the next I heard was banging. I swung
round and there was this guy Mambo sort of
half in the car and he was shooting in the
car. All I remember then is your man Mambo
pulling him out and (another man) was pushing
him out. The guy fell on the floor so they
got out and picked him up and threw him on to
a hedge I think it was. Then your man shouted
get in. I was standing there shocked, I was
horrified. My first thought was that they
were going to do the same thing to me because
I had seen what they had done. I was
horrified. I got in the back and the whole
way back I just stared out of the
window".
The car crossed the border
into Northern Ireland and dropped Paul Hosking
and the UDR captain off at Killyleagh. The
captain then drove him home to Comber. Paul
Hosking said that he was threatened by Mambo, who
said that if he could get away with it he could
kill a Protestant too. Two days later he was
approached by the UDR captain who warned him that
unless he joined the Red Hand Commando he would
be killed because of what he had seen. Paul
Hosking had been a low level member of the Ulster
Defence Association during the Ulster Workers
Strike in 1974. He asked the UDA to intervene on
his behalf. After this he did not hear about the
murder until eleven years later. Paul Hosking
said he did not contact the police because of
fears for his own safety and that of his family.
In 1978 Paul Hosking went to
live in Scotland. He returned to live in Comber
in 1986. While attending a family funeral he was
told by a relative who was a member of the RUC
that the Special Branch wanted to see him about
"something serious". Along with this
relative as a witness, he met a Special Branch
officer in a pub in Newtownards in January or
February 1987. According to Paul Hosking this
officer "seemed to know all the story",
The officer told Paul Hosking that he knew he had
been there but hadn't been involved. He was aced
to provide his own account of events after which,
the officer said, "forget it, its
political".
Once again Paul Hosking did
not hear anything more about the murder until 17
February 1998 when along with three other men he
was arrested. He said his first remarks to the
CID were "Why are you coming to look for me
now? I told the Special Branch this . . . and
you're looking for me now". He told the CID
the full account of the murder of Seamus Ludlow.
Newspaper sources have speculated that the RUC
Special Branch chose to ignore Paul Hosking's
evidence in 1987 because they were protecting an
informer amongst the three Red Hand Commando
members, possibly the trigger man himself, Mambo.
It has also been suggested that this cover-up
began just after the murder itself was committed.20
The RUC have confirmed that
four men were held at Castlereagh Holding Centre
and questioned in connection with the Ludlow
murder. They were released without charge.21 A police investigation file relating
to the death of Seamus Ludlow was prepared and
forwarded to the Director for Public Prosecutions
for Northern Ireland on 23 October 1998. The
Director for Public Prosecutions has confirmed
that the contents of this file will be
considered.22
Seamus Ludlow's family are
now calling for an independent public inquiry
into the murder of their relative. They are
demanding that the killers of Seamus Ludlow are
caught and that the actions of the Gardai and the
RUC in their conduct of the murder investigation
are examined and accounted for. British Irish
RIGHTS WATCH supports their call. In particular,
the family want the following questions answered:
1. Why did the initial Gardai investigation into
the murder suddenly stop after three weeks?
2. Why did the British Army take such an interest
in the conduct of the Gardai investigations?
3. Why were the family excluded from the inquest
on 19 August 1976 and who was responsible for
this exclusion?
4. Were any ballistics or forensic reports
presented at the inquest?
5. Exactly what information did the Gardai hold
about the murder and for how long was this
information held?
6. Why was the information passed to Detective
Chief Superintendent Courtney by the RUC in 1979
never acted upon?
7. Who was primarily responsible for the decision
not to act upon this information?
8. Will the Gardai publicly apologise for and
retract the allegations made that Seamus Ludlow
was an IRA informer?
9. What are the results of the current Gardai
inquiry into their original investigation of the
murder and what subsequent action will be taken?
10. Exactly what information did the RUC hold
about the murder and for how long was this
information held?
11. Why did the RUC Special Branch take no action
following Paul Hosking's statement given in 1987
regarding the identity of the killers?
12. Were the RUC trying to protect an informer
amongst the murderers of Seamus Ludlow?
13. Will charges be brought against the suspects
arrested in February 1998 by the Northern Irish
Director of Public Prosecutions and if so when?
14. Will the Gardai and RUC be held accountable
for their actions?
Footnotes.
1 Sunday Tribune 8 March 1998
2 Sunday Press 9 May 1976
3 The Argus 19 June 1998
4 The Sunday Press 9 May 1976
5 The post-mortem report dated 3 May
1976
6 The Sunday Press 9 May 1976
7 The Independent and Sunday World 16
May 1976
8 The Argus 19 June 1998
9 Sunday Tribune 15 March 1998
10 The Irish Times 4 May 1976
11 Sunday Tribune 15 March 1998
12 The Argus 19 June 1998
13 From Monsignor Raymond Murray
14 The Argus 19 June 1998.
15 Sunday Tribune 15 March 1998
16 The Sunday World 27 September 1998
17 Sunday Independent 20 September 1998
18 Letter to BIRW dated 26 November
1998
19 Sunday Tribune 8 March 1998
20 Sunday Tribune 8 March 1998
21 Letter to BIRW from Detective
Superintendent Molloy dated 11 September 1998
February 1999
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