Slain man’s family accepts killers will not be caught

THE family of a murdered Dundalk forestry worker murdered by a loyalist sectarian gang say they have given up hope of his killers being brought to justice.

Seamus Ludlow, 47, was abducted by loyalist paramilitaries in Co Louth and shot dead on May 2, 1976, but gardaí never interviewed the suspects identified by the RUC 18 months later.

The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice heard the family now accepted a loyalist gang had carried the random murder but would never be held responsible.

“We reluctantly must accept that the prospects of even bringing a prosecution, let alone a successful one, are extremely remote,” said barrister Eamon Coffey.

The four suspects named in Judge Henry Barron’s report into the killing - Paul Hosking, James Fitzsimmons, Richard Long and Samuel Carroll - were arrested in the North in 1998, but the DPP there decided not to prosecute due to insufficient evidence.

But Mr Coffey said the family wanted a full public inquiry to discover why the gardaí had never been given permission to travel across the border to interview the suspects.

“Otherwise the Ludlow family and the wider public are left with the grounds of believing that this State was an accessory after the fact in the murder of Seamus Ludlow and being complicit in his murder,” he said.

The justice committee, which was holding the last of its seven hearings into Judge Barron’s report, must consider whether to recommend a full public inquiry in its report next month.

Mr Coffey said the Ludlow family had been steadfast in their pursuit of the truth for 30 years, which had seen them endure two inquests, two garda internal investigation and Judge Barron’s report.