Call for probe into murder of journalist Martin O’Hagan by LVF

 25th September 2021

Calls have been made for an expert panel to investigate the murder of Sunday World journalist Martin O’Hagan.

The National Union of Journalists’ (NUJ) plea comes ahead of the 20th anniversary of the killing on Tuesday.

The reporter was shot dead by the LVF on September 28, 2001, while returning to his home in Lurgan, Co Armagh, with his wife Marie. He was 51. No one has been convicted of his murder.

The NUJ has previously called for an independent investigation into his murder. It said the Government should establish a panel of international experts, both to investigate the murder and failure to secure a conviction.

The “failure” of the authorities to “properly” investigate the murder is a “stain on the history of policing” in the North, it added.

The NUJ paid tribute to Mr O’Hagan as “a fearless journalist but a dedicated husband, father, brother, a trade union activist” and added that he was a “man of courage and integrity”.

“The passage of time does not obliterate the need for an independent investigation drawn from outside the UK to investigate the murder and the subsequent police failings,” said the NUJ’s Michelle Stanistreet.

The NUJ plans to write to the UK and Irish governments.

Detective Superintendent Stephen Wright from the PSNI’s Legacy Investigation Branch (LIB) said the investigation into the killing remains open.

“Currently, the investigation sits within the caseload of LIB for future review, in accordance with our Case Sequencing Model. Unfortunately, due to the nature and volume of LIB caseloads, we are unable to say when this review will start,” he added.

“Approaching the 20th anniversary of Martin’s murder, I am appealing to anyone who has information about who carried out this heinous act to do the right thing and tell us what they know.”