Provos 'Have Not Gone Away'

Provisional IRA members are still terrorising communities in South Armagh, a local Assemblyman has claimed.

Dominic Bradley of the SDLP said he is seriously concerned that 'Provos' are again trying to exercise control through violence and use of firearms.

He said people in the area are not convinced by "political spin" that dissidents were responsible for a recent punishment-style shooting in Meigh.

"They are even less convinced by the alternative story of a criminal gang opening fire during a failed robbery," said the MLA.

He claimed political cover was given to Paul Quinn's Provo killers in 2007.

Mr Bradley said Garda later "demolished the myth" of the involvement of an armed criminal gang in the murder.

"The South Armagh Provos have generally been lying low since then because of public outrage at the way Paul was systematically battered to death, with every major bone in his body broken," he said.

The MLA said there are now fears that the "killing machine" is back in action.

According to Mr Bradley, local Provo believe not enough respect is being given to them or members of their extended families.

"Paul Quinn died because he would not bend the knee to the warlords. The extraordinary Sinn Fein vilification of him and his family’s campaign, which has done them considerable political damage, shows just how much power the warlords still have within the Provisional movement," he said.

"We will not have true peace, we will not have a lawful society, until it is possible to disagree with members of the Provisionals without ending up shot or battered to death in a shed.

See: Paul Quinn Murder To Be Marked

(PR/BMcC)