BACKGROUND TO THE CAMPAIGN

Stephen and Briege Quinn have called upon Sinn Féin leaders to either withdraw allegations of criminality against their late son or put whatever evidence they think they might have in the public domain.

Stephen Quinn said: “Gerry Adams said Paul was killed because of a falling out among criminals, which is as good as calling our son a criminal. Next to his brutal murder, nothing has caused us more pain than this allegation. Gerry Adams says he consulted people in South Armagh and could certify no republicans were involved. He didn’t ask us or we could have told him different- so could anyone around here.

“Conor Murphy has repeated the criminality story. If he has a shred of evidence that Paul was involved in anything, I challenge him today to put it in the paper – or else do the decent thing and publicly withdraw it. Conor Murphy says he knows the area, but it doesn’t sound like the area we know. He must be talking to people who tell him what he wants to hear. We could have told him the truth.

“It is very hard for us to understand why anyone would want to tell lies about Paul. He was just an ordinary young lad, no angel but no criminal. They took Paul away from us and damaged his body terribly. But why do they want to damage his memory? I intend to ask Gerry Adams and Conor Murphy directly why they are saying these things about Paul.

“Many of our neighbours are Sinn Féin members and supporters. They are good people and we want their support. But we want the truth a lot more, and we are appealing to all concerned to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

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