'No one' from Sinn Féin has contacted family, says mother of murdered Paul Quinn
Nobody from Sinn Féin has contacted Paul Quinn’s family, according to the murdered 21-year-old’s mother.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1’s Today with Sean O’Rourke, she was asked about Mary Lou McDonald’s promise on
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The Storman MLA for Newry and Armagh stated in 2007 the 21-year-old was “involved in smuggling and criminality”.
And he added: “I think everyone accepts that.”
Mr Quinn, from Cullyhanna, Co Armagh, was lured to a barn near the border in Tullycoora, Co Monoghan, on October 20, 2007.
Once inside he was set upon by a group of about 12 men armed with bats, some of which studded with nails, and every major bone of his body was broken in a beating that took just over 30 minutes.
Although he was taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, he died a few hours later.
Mr Murphy’s comment at the time was greeted with fury by the family, from Cullyhanna in south Armagh,
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They say they will never meet him unless he apologises on TV and makes a statement to the PSNI.
Mr O’Rourke asked Breege Quinn if anybody from Sinn Féin had been in touch and she replied: “No. No one.”
Mrs Quinn said: “Mary Lou came out last night and said that Paul was not a criminal.
“Well, that was good to hear and Conor Murphy is going to apologize to the Quinn family.
“I will accept an apology from Conor Murphy when he comes out on national television and apologises to us because he blackened Paul's name on national television.
“When he has that done, I want him to go to the gardaí and the PSNI and give the names of the IRA men that he spoke to in Cullyhanna (who) reassured him they didn't do it
“But he also said that everyone Cullyhanna knew Paul was a criminal, so who do you believe?”
And with her voice racked with emotion, she asked: “Why has he left us 13 years fighting, crying?
“People are accusing us now of coming out when there is an election on to look for justice for Paul.
“I want to tell them that I have been fighting morning and noon and night this past 13 years for justice for my son, not just because there is an election.”
She added: “Why did Conor Murphy go to the IRA?
“Nobody asked him to go to the IRA.
“The very next day (after he was murdered) every political party came to this door.
“Not one Sinn Féin member and that was even before we said the IRA murdered him, that we set it out publicly
“The family has been grieving 13 years and she's coming out now because of the election. But I don't care about elections.”
Also in her interview, Mrs Quinn spoke of the heartache of her family.
Paul’s siblings are still very “angry” about what happened and his father goes nowhere but the graveyard every day.
“And when it rains, he stays in the car and stares at the grave,” she added.
Sinn Féin’s press office was asked for a comment at 10.37am.
