The murder of south Armagh man Paul Quinn (21) in a paramilitary-style attack last October was a worse outrage than the murder of Belfast man Robert McCartney three years ago, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said last night.
Mr Kenny travelled to Castleblayney yesterday to meet Stephen and Briege Quinn, the parents of the 21-year-old man who was beaten to death by a gang of up to ten men in a farmhouse in Oram, Co Monaghan, on October 20th after being lured across the Border.
Speaking after his hour-long meeting with the Quinn family, Mr Kenny condemned the murder and the subsequent cover-up, and presented it as a "litmus test" for the Belfast Agreement.
"The death of Robert McCartney in Belfast three years ago was an outrage and a grotesque act," he said. "This is actually worse in that the murder of Paul Quinn was premeditated and pre-planned. It was carried out and executed in military fashion in the style of punishment beatings that had been carried out in this area for many years during the Troubles," he added.
Mr Quinn's family say the attack was carried out by members of the IRA because of a personal feud between Mr Quinn and a south Armagh republican.Sinn Féin has been alone among nationalist parties in maintaining that it stemmed from a row over fuel-smuggling that was criminal in nature.
Mr Kenny reiterated his view that there was very strong evidence that Mr Quinn was beaten to death by current or former members of the Provisional IRA.
He also said that he will ensure that the murder of Mr Quinn will be debated in the Dáil. "When the Dail resumes we can have a short debate of an hour's duration where all parties of the House can put on the record their belief that this is truly important in the context of the peace process."
Mr Kenny also criticised the Government's response to the development. "I was a bit disappointed about the delay of the Government, of the Taoiseach and of the Minister for Foreign Affairs in clarifying the position that Paul was not deemed to be a criminal. That was very important from the Quinn family perspective." Mr Quinn said that his understanding was the investigation was going well with the Garda getting co-operation from both sides of the Border.
Mrs Quinn appealed to people to come forward: "I believe that Paul has many friends out there and maybe they are afraid to say (anything) at the minute. But everybody is born with a conscience and their conscience will tell them the right thing to do," she said. She said she was heartened at the huge attendances at meetings seeking justice for their son in south Armagh and north Monaghan in the past week.