Martin criticises 'omerta' surrounding murder of Paul Quinn
Micheál Martin has criticised the omerta surrounding the murder of Paul Quinn amid questions about what Sinn Féin figures know about the young man's brutal murder.
The Fianna Fáil leader was reacting after the mother of the murder victim, Breege Quinn, earlier called on Sinn Féin to apologise for suggesting her son had been involved in criminality.
Ms Quinn also wants Conor Murphy, a senior Sinn Féin figure who is the North's finance minister, to resign and to make the apology on TV.
Speaking in Dublin this morning after the RTÉ
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"I would urge everybody to listen to them. A grieving mother who wants to vindicate her son's name, and she's been a long time trying to be vindicate her son's name.
"I think that it is extraordinary that it has taken 13 years. And it looks like an apology will be given for the manner in which Paul's name was sullied."
Mr Murphy had said not long after the 21-year-old was beaten to death in 2007 a shed in Monaghan that he had been involved in “criminality and smuggling”, while former party leader Gerry Adams also said there was criminality involved.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has refused this morning to ask her minister in the North to resign but says she does expect an apology will be forthcoming.
Nonetheless, Mr Martin said today that he believed the IRA were responsible for Mr Quinn's murder and the Quinn family had been “let down” for so many years.
Asked what Sinn Féin members may know about the murder, Mr Martin responded:
“The omerta that followed was deeply concerning. It was a savage attack involving a lot of people.”
