New information relating to the murder of Councillor Patsy Kelly in 1974 has emerged which reveals that ammunition found in the lough where his body was dumped matches the type of bullet that was used to kill him.

Sinn Fein Councillor Stephen McCann told Tuesday night’s meeting of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council that it was a “startling new revelation” and councillors needed to be aware.

Mr. Kelly’s body had been weighed down and dumped in Lough Eyes, but his remains were not found until a month later when they broke free and rose to the surface.

Sinn Fein say the new information, which was first reported by RTE, will “shed further light on the role of British security forces in his murder and subsequent cover up by the British state.”

The information is from a British Army record in a Brigade Operations Log dated August 13, 1974, soon after the discovery of his body.

“It records that ammunition connected to the discovery of the body was found in the lough, some of which matched the same calibre of bullet that was used to murder Patsy Kelly. This crucial evidence disappeared from subsequent police investigations,” said the Kelly family, in a statement.

Councillor McCann told the meeting in Omagh that the new information raises a number of questions.

“Why was this information withheld for almost 45 years? What important evidential opportunities were lost by police for failure to include this ammunition in any investigation? And why was this ammunition find never revealed to the original inquest?” he asked.

In their statement, the Kelly family raised similar questions: “From the original 1974 investigation, the 1993 re-investigation, the PSNI/Hunter investigation of 2003, the HET investigation of 2008 and the current ongoing investigation by PONI – none of these investigations have ever revealed this information to the Kelly family – why?”

Mr. Kelly’s son, also called Patsy, said: “This new information calls into question every single investigation that has been carried out by the police from 1974 to date into my father’s murder.”

“How could such a vital piece of information have either been withheld or never been uncovered following so many alleged previous investigations? The fact that this information was never submitted to the original inquest throws yet another very sinister twist on the history of this case.

“We will continue to seek the truth about my father’s murder and it is simply disgraceful that the pain & anguish of our family is being compounded by continued inaction and cover-up by the authorities,” he said.