Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

Does the Taoiseach agree that the report of Mr. Justice Barron on the murder of Seamus Ludlow is an indictment in particular of senior Garda management who prevented a full investigation being pursued in 1979 even though they were aware of the identity of the four people directly involved in the murder of Seamus Ludlow and that two of those were serving members of the British army's Ulster Defence Regiment? The report concludes that the decision not to pursue the investigation was taken by Deputy Commissioner Laurence Wren. Would the Taoiseach believe, as this Deputy believes, that this was not taken wholly and solely by then Deputy Commissioner Wren, but in consultation with senior officials in the Department of Justice? In the light of this damning conclusion does the Taoiseach agree that this case in particular highlights the huge responsibility of the State not only to come clean regarding what has happened but also to make amends for what was done and what failed to be done in the name of this State? Will the Government agree to the request conveyed to the Taoiseach at his recent meeting with representatives of the Ludlow family for a full independent public inquiry? When will the decision be taken to agree to concede to their request that has been repeatedly made?

Have all the Barron reports and those of the Oireachtas sub-committee been presented to the British prime Minister, Gordon Brown, or his predecessor? If they were presented in the first instance to the former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has the Taoiseach considered presenting the current occupant of 10 Downing Street with the full complement of these reports including the Oireachtas sub-committee's reports following the reports of Mr. Justice Barron, Mr. Justice Hamilton and Mr. Patrick MacEntee? Have parliamentarians at Westminster, altogether apart from the British Prime Minister, been lobbied for support for the repeated call of this House for a full independent judicial inquiry into all the matters we have recently addressed in this House under the banner of collusion?

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