Trimble condemns 'cowardly' murder of jourmalist

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble today condemned as ‘‘cowardly’’ the murder of well-known Northern Ireland journalist Martin O’Hagan near his home in Lurgan Co Armagh.

Mr O’Hagan, who worked for the northern edition of the Dublin-based Sunday World, was walking home from his local pub with his wife when he was gunned down late last night.

Mr Trimble, MP for the area, said he was appalled by this latest shooting.

‘‘Tragically, Lurgan has witnessed yet another murder and I would call upon the wider community to assist the RUC in any way possible as they seek to bring to justice the perpetrators of this act.’’

The murder was claimed today by loyalist splinter group the Red Hand Defenders - a cover name used in the past by the Loyalist Volunteer Force and the Ulster Defence Association.

Mr O’Hagan had been living with loyalist death threats for years and there was speculation today that the LVF may have carried out the killing.

Eight years ago, he moved to Cork after LVF leader Billy Wright - himself shot dead by the INLA inside the Maze Prison - threatened his life.

Mr O’Hagan had given Wright the nickname King Rat and had written a series of exposes about the murderous activities of his gang, the Ratpack.

Sunday World editor Colm MacGinty today travelled from Dublin to visit Mr O’Hagan’s distraught family and to put together a special memorial edition.

Hugh Jordan, who worked with Mr O’Hagan for 10 years, paid tribute to his friend and colleague. ‘‘Marty was tenacious. He wouldn’t let go of a story. He had great enthusiasm for his job.

‘‘He was totally against violence in any shape or form. He was committed to the eradication of paramilitary violence in Northern Ireland.

‘‘This is a sad loss, not just to his family and his paper, but to the wider community. He was a man who contributed to a better life for everybody.’’

Mr O’Hagan died immediately after a gunman pulled up beside him in a car in Westfield Gardens and shot him.

A car which police believed to be the vehicle used in the killing was discovered burned out a short distance away.

Mr O’Hagan was a key witness in a case over the controversial Channel Four programme The Committee, which alleged leading members of the security forces were involved in a secret ring linked to loyalist paramilitaries.

Jim McDowell, northern editor of the Sunday World, said he was ‘‘devastated’’ at the murder of his colleague. He travelled to Lurgan to comfort the murdered man’s widow.

He said: ‘‘He was a journalist who never stood back in his life. If there were issues to be addressed, then he did it.

‘‘I was not aware he was under any threat at this time. He never talked about that.

‘‘But, obviously, as a fearless journalist and a secretary of the NUJ in Belfast, an attack on someone of his stature is an attack on the freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

‘‘This newspaper has suffered many threats in the past and everyone is shattered.’’

Mr O’Hagan leaves three daughters, including one engaged to be married.

It was the second time a member of staff of the paper had been shot by loyalists.

In the late 1970s the paper’s former Northern Editor Jim Campbell was shot numerous times by a lone gunman on the doorstep of his north Belfast home.

Mr Campbell, despite suffering horrific injuries, survived and continues to work for the paper from across the border, despite still having at least one bullet lodged close to his spine.

Other members of Sunday World staff have been threatened and the Belfast offices of the paper have also been attacked by bombers.