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Mary Lou McDonald has said it was an "honest mistake" on her part to say that Conor Murphy, the Sinn Féin finance spokesman in Northern Ireland, did not link the murdered 21-year-old Paul Quinn with criminality.
Mr Quinn, from Cullyhanna, Co Armagh, was killed on October 20th, 2007, and his mother, Breege Quinn, had called on Mr Murphy to apologise for linking her son to crime.
Earlier this week Ms McDonald said she did not believe Mr Murphy made such comments but a quote from him was read back to her during the RTÉ Prime Time leaders' debate on Tuesday, highlighting how Mr Murphy had said Mr Quinn was involved in crime and smuggling.
Mr Murphy had said: “Paul Quinn was involved in smuggling and criminality. I think everyone accepts that.”
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Speaking yesterday in Dublin, Ms McDonald said Mr Murphy did not mislead her on the comments he made in 2007.
“No, he didn’t,” she said. “These comments were made more than a decade ago.” She said it was only when she saw a BBC Spotlight programme “that I had the full content of what had been said”.
“It was an honest mistake on my part. My recollection had been that the commentary was about the criminality up around the Border region and smuggling and so on, which is a reality.
“I hadn’t recalled that the questions or the remarks were quite so pointed, so I understand fully why the Quinn family felt aggrieved by these comments and I am glad that they have been withdrawn and there is an apology.”
No resignation
She said the matter should have been cleared up earlier but said Mr Murphy would not resign, as Mrs Quinn had also called for.
“We are only after getting the powersharing government back up and running,” Ms McDonald told the media outside Sinn Féin headquarters on Dublin’s Parnell Square. “We have to make a success of this. I believe everyone is determined to do so, so Conor won’t be stepping down.
“He has made an apology. It is sincerely made and I hope and I trust that the Quinn family will get some measure of comfort from that but ultimately the issue here is that those who carried out this murder are actually brought to justice.
“Now an apology has been made, the remarks are withdrawn and I am just very glad that Breege Quinn takes comfort from that.
“I am a mother myself. I can’t imagine the trauma of losing her son in such a brutal way and I would be no different to Breege Quinn, God forbid, if I was in that situation. You would campaign endlessly to ensure your son was respected and that those who were responsible for his death were brought to justice.”
On whether Mr Murphy would make a statement to An Garda Síochána or the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Ms McDonald said on Wednesday: "Conor met with the PSNI and An Garda Síochána at the time and let me repeat that anybody with any information needs to bring that information forward about those who did carry out this act.
“That is the important thing here and this matter has caused huge grief. The family are in trauma. It is for the Garda and the PSNI to bring justice into the equation, and I very much hope that happens.”