Quinn Family Hopeful Over Son's Killers

Hopes of justice remain high for the bereaved south Armagh family of Cullyhanna man Paul Quinn.

The family of the murder victim remain confident that the guilty parties will eventually be brought to court despite the release of the latest suspect.

The man, understood to be in his early 30s and from the south Armagh area, was arrested by Gardaí in Carrickmacross in Co Monaghan over a week ago, but was released without charge two days later. The victim, 21-year-old Mr Quinn, (pictured here) was lured to a remote farmhouse near Castleblaney in October 2007.

He was brutally beaten to death by a masked gang of around 20 men using iron bars - with his family blaming members of the Provisional IRA for the murder - a claim that has been consistently denied by Sinn Féin.

Although so much time has passed, the former Newry and Mourne District councillor Jim McAllister, who chairs the Quinn Support Group, said that the murdered man's family was encouraged by any developments in the investigation.

"The arrest gave them a little boost," he said.

"It does them good to know that the Gardaí are still active. I suppose human nature has them thinking every time that there might be a breakthrough, but at the back of their mind they know it will probably be the same as before."

Mr McAllister confirmed that the Quinn family remains in constant contact with the Gardaí regarding the investigation.

"They're very hopeful, they know that the Gardaí just need a few more little pieces of the jigsaw," he told the Newry Democrat newspaper this week.

See: Quinn Family Meet Gardaí Boss

(BMcC/JM)