Two held over murder of dissident republican

A woman and a teenage boy were tonight being questioned about the murder of a dissident republican in Northern Ireland.

A woman and a teenage boy were tonight being questioned about the murder of a dissident republican in Northern Ireland.

The pair were arrested by detectives probing the killing of Martin Conlon (35) who was abducted and shot in South Armagh.

Police have been examining several possible motives for the murder last week, including the possibility that Mr Conlon was attacked because he was gay.

They have also been checking whether he was the victim of a fall-out with former associates linked to the Real IRA.

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Mr Conlon, who lived at Railway Street, Armagh, died in hospital after being found unconscious near the neighbouring village of Keady last Monday. He was freed from jail in this State last year.

Mr Conlon had been one of six men jailed in Dublin in March 2001 after pleading guilty to training people in the use of firearms.

His body was discovered close to the Madden estate outside Keady and about a mile and a half from where his silver Volkswagen Passat car was later found burnt out.

After staging a reconstruction in a bid to piece together the circumstances surrounding the murder and identify new witnesses, police held the suspects in the Armagh area today.

A police spokeswoman confirmed that a woman aged 30 and a male juvenile had been arrested.

PA