Go-ahead for inquiry into man’s death
The Ludlow family has been campaigning for a public hearing since the mid 1990s when they discovered gardaí did not interview four suspects thought to have been involved in the murder of the Louth man.
Following a meeting with the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in Government Buildings yesterday, the family said they are confident an inquiry will go ahead.
Mr Ahern said he would not be in favour of a inquiry that would drag on over a long time. But he indicated he was not opposed to a “Focus Public Inquiry” which would have a short timeframe of a couple of weeks, and look at a number of specific issues.
Mr Ludlow, a 47-year-old forestry worker, was shot three times after he left his local pub at Thistle Cross in Dundalk on May 1st 1976.
The Garda inquiry into his death lasted a mere four weeks and the force claimed Mr Ludlow was a member of the IRA and was killed because he was an informer.
The victim’s nephew, Jimmy Sharkey, said yesterday the family waited 11 years to meet Taoiseach: “It is very important to put our point across to the leader of the country in a very strong way. We have been seeking a meeting with him since 1997. We’re happy that we took the opportunity and it was a good meeting,” he said.
After the discussions that lasted an hour and 30 minutes, Mr Sharkey said an inquiry is possible: “We have put it back on the agenda now and the ball is back in Mr Ahern’s court. If they do not go ahead with an inquiry now, they will have to give good reasons why they are not going ahead with it,” he said.
The family will now send a letter to the Attorney General outlining what issues they would like explored in such an inquiry.
Mr Sharkey was also critical of an ongoing garda inquiry set up in 2006.
“It’s a futile operation. It’s the third time the gardaí have looked into this. The forensics can’t be found and the files can’t be found so it is impossible that someone will be caught,”he said.
Yesterday’s meeting was attended by the brother of Seamus, Kevin and his sisters Nan and Eileen.
