22/10/2007

Brutal Murder Blamed On Provos

The family of young south Armagh man beaten to death at the weekend is in no doubt that he was killed by the IRA.

Despite local Sinn Fein MP Conor Murphy’s denial of republican involvement in the horrific murder, the family of Cullyhanna man Paul Quinn, 21, said their son was abducted and beaten by the IRA because he refused to leave the country.

Mr Quinn was found at farm buildings at Tullycoora near Oram just across the Irish border after 1800 BST on Saturday. He died later.

Mr Quinn's family said he had been recently involved in a dispute with individual members of the IRA.

"Following this he received a threat by a third party ordering him to leave the country," read a statement from the Quinn family.

"We believe that he was abducted by the Provisional movement and brutally beaten to death."

Gardai said it was very early in their investigation and they were keeping an open mind about the reasons for the assault.

A senior detective also said the possibility of paramilitary involvement had not yet been ruled in or out of the investigation.

SDLP assembly member Dominic Bradley said Mr Quinn had been lured to a farm in County Monaghan where a gang attacked him.

"There is utter revulsion in the local community at this act," he said.

Meanwhile, it has also emerged that the deceased was a good friend of another tragic Cullyhanna man, 18-year old Brendan McCooey who drowned whilst on holiday in Crete.

Mr Quinn was amongst the group of young men holidaying on the Greek island in August with Brendan and was one of the last people to see his friend alive.

The Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness is expected to face questioning in the Assembly today on the issue and DUP MEP Jim Allister has already called for clarity on who was behind the incident.

"The suggestion that the IRA killed Paul Quinn requires absolute clarity from the PSNI and the Gardai with no phoney distinctions being made between "organisational acts" and actions by individual IRA members," he said.

"If a gang of 15 IRA men beat a man to death, then it is an IRA murder. No ifs and no buts."

(BMcC)

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