Decision not to interview murder suspects ‘political’

THE decision not to interview four key suspects in the murder of a Dundalk forestry worker 30 years ago was probably political, a judge said yesterday.

Seamus Ludlow, aged 47, was abducted by loyalist paramilitaries in County Louth and shot dead on May 2, 1976, but gardaí never interviewed the suspects identified by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) 18 months later.

At the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Judge Henry Barron was asked if this decision had been taken because of the volatile situation at the time. “I think the reality is that it was probably political,” he replied.