Committee recomends new probe into Ludlow murder

A commission of inquiry should be set up into the murder of a Dundalk forestry worker 30 years ago, an Oireachtas Committee recommended today.

Seamus Ludlow was shot dead by loyalist paramilitaries in 1976 but gardaí never questioned the four suspects identified by the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

The Joint Committee on Justice said the new investigation should find out why this happened and criticised the original garda inquiry.

“The family of Seamus Ludlow appear to have been treated in a very unsatisfactory manner by the gardai in the aftermath of the murder,” it said.

“The gardaí do not seem to have made any inquiries in Northern Ireland in 1976 or seriously considered the possibility of collusion.”

The committee also recommended that a team of gardai be appointed to look at re-opening the murder investigation.