Truth And Justice For Paul Quinn

I didn’t post on the brutal killing of Paul Quinn as I knew that the issue was liable to descend into petty political point-scoring. As it transpires, that is exactly what has happened, with various sides warping the truth for their own ends. However, having spoken to people on the ground and listened to the rubbish being peddled from a number of directions, I decided it was time to speak out on the killing.

Firstly, Lord Laird’s claims made under parliamentary privilege were wide of the mark- if he’d bothered to talk to people in the area who know the situation on the ground rather than taking advice from a known crank, then perhaps he would have been more accurate in his claims.

However, Laird’s ramblings are nothing compared to the provos’ sickening efforts to blacken the name of Paul. Sinn Féin has claimed that the killing was the result of some sort of criminal fall-out in south Armagh- the only criminals involved here are the ones who tortured and battered the young man to death. Rather than even bother to talk to the family, Gerry Adams and other Sinn Féin politicians claimed that they were satisfied that provos weren’t involved after having consulted with their buddies in the area. Conor Murphy repeated the criminality line without producing a shred of evidence to back it up. Did they ever think to talk to the Quinns to find out the facts?

The provos like to think that they run south Armagh so are they saying that these killers operated completely independently of the PIRA and were able to run a well-oiled criminal organisation without the knowledge of the provos? If Sinn Féin genuinely believes that provos weren’t involved, then why didn’t they leave it at that- why did they feel the need to besmirch the name of the victim? There’s only one organisation that has a track record of this sort of brutality in the south Armagh area, and it ain’t some bunch of non-aligned ordinary decent criminals. It’s not so long ago that people were found in ditches battered with a bullet in the back of the head. This kind of meticulous mission of murder could not take place without the knowledge or involvement of the provos- fact.

Given the circumstances of Paul’s death and the rumours that were pumped out for political reasons before his ravaged body was even cold, friends and family of the Quinns as well as people concerned about public safety in south Armagh have decided to come together to form the Quinn Support Group. Their objective is to support the Quinn family in their quest for justice following the murder of their son.

However, unlike those who decided to dispense their own form of bloody ‘justice’ to Paul, the group has made clear that the only way to deal with this murder is to bring those responsible before the courts. They fully support the gardaí’s investigation and have pledged to support and encourage anyone who comes forward to help with inquiries.

Paul was involved in public disputes about private matters, as a result of which explicit threats were made against him and an exiling order was issued on the authority of a paramilitary organisation. He was lured across the border and beaten to death by a group of masked man acting under command who made reference to the threats. Clearly this killing was linked to the threats made against Paul- it is completely ludicrous to suggest that somehow some criminal element which was completely separate from the PIRA got wind of these threats and decided to batter the young man to death while just happening to mention the fact that he had already been warned. It’s also interesting to note that the ‘Community Safety Group’ in Cullyhanna, one of several in the area which are normally only too happy to get involved, has made no statement on the murder, but it will be asked to publicly state its position and its attitude to the Quinn family campaign.

The bottom line is that Stephen and Briege Quinn want justice for their son. The suggestion that they would try to get one over on the provos to the detriment of efforts to catch Paul’s actual killers is clearly ludicrous, but that seems to be Sinn Féin’s position. The people of Cullyhanna are blaming the provos because the provos are to blame.

It is vital that everyone in the south Armagh, north Monaghan and Greater Newry areas who believes in democracy, justice and the rule of law stands fully behind the Quinns’ campaign and rejects attempts to blacken the name of the victim of this bloody and callous attack.

All the Quinns want is their son’s killers brought before the courts for this vicious crime. Is that too much to ask?