Murdered journalist’s wife appeals for no retaliation

The widow of murdered Northern Ireland journalist Martin O’Hagan has renewed her appeal for no retaliation for his killing.

Sunday World journalist Martin O'Hagan, 51, was shot dead in Lurgan, County Armagh, as he walked home from his local pub on Friday September 28.

Mr O'Hagan's widow, Marie, has said the family want no more killings. In a statement issued on Friday, she said: "No-one, nor any organisation, must take it upon themselves to kill in our, or, more importantly, my late husband's name.

"He died because he repudiated and exposed terrorism from whatever quarter.

The statement added: "We want no more killings in this country. This country and its people have suffered enough.

"A week to the day after Martin's death, we know what real suffering means and we do not want it visited on some other family."

The appeal comes as police prepare to stage a reconstruction of the events leading up to Mr O'Hagan's murder.

On Friday night, officers will retrace his movements from a bar in Lurgan to his home on the Tandragee road and talk to people in the area.

The shooting has been claimed by the Red Hand Defenders, a cover name used in the past for the Ulster Defence Association and the Loyalist Volunteer Force.

Mr O’Hagan, who worked in the Northern office of the Dublin-based Sunday World newspaper, had been threatened previously over his work on paramilitary and drugs-related stories.

The weapon used to kill the father-of-three is understood to have been linked to a previous LVF shooting.

RUC chief constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan has said that police inquiries are concentrating on the LVF. (AMcE)