Journalist shot dead in N. Ireland

The Red Hand Defenders say they shot and killed reporter Martin O'Hagan

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- A prominent newspaper journalist has been shot dead in front of his wife in Northern Ireland.

Martin O'Hagan, who worked for the northern edition of the Dublin-based Sunday World, was walking home from a pub on Friday night in Lurgan, County Armagh, when a gunman pulled up in a car and shot him. He died at the scene.

A car which police believed to be the vehicle used in the killing was discovered burned out nearby.

Loyalist paramilitary group the Red Hand Defenders said it carried out the attack. The group is believed to be made up of dissident members of other paramilitary organisations, including the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF).

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble said he was appalled by the attack, which he described as "cowardly."

"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," he said.

O'Hagan, who had received a number of death threats, was a key witness in a case over a television documentary 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, and to put together a special edition of the newspaper.

He told the UK Press Association: "He was a journalist who never stood back in his life. If there are 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 ... 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."

O'Hagan was forced to leave Northern Ireland at one stage because of the threats against his life. When he returned heavy security measures were put around his home following renewed threats.

It is the second time a member of staff of the newspaper has been shot. In the late 1970s the paper's former Northern Editor Jim Campbell was shot by a lone gunman on the doorstep of his north Belfast home.

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