Murder of Paul Quinn

Attack, torture, and murder in Tullycoora

A native of Cullyhanna, County Armagh, Paul Quinn, then 21 years old, was lured to a farm at Tullycoora, near Oram in County Monaghan, where three of his friends were held hostage. When he arrived at the farm, a group of some ten or more men beat him with iron and nail-studded bars for upwards of half an hour, breaking every major bone in his body. Quinn was taken at around 18:00 to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, where he died two hours later.

Accusations of Quinn family

Quinn's parents, Breege and Stephen, have said that members of the Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade were responsible. Their son had had "run-ins with the Cullyhanna ASU on a number of occasions", and had "floored" the son of one of the active service unit (ASU) leaders in a pub row. Following the incident, the mother of the young man appeared at Quinn's family home with a hammer in her hand and told the family their son would have to leave Ireland. The murder is believed to have arisen as a result of a dispute between Quinn and the local IRA.

IMC report

In November 2007, the Independent Monitoring Commission's John Grieve, stated that "We do believe that those involved ... included people who are members or former members, or have associations with members or former members, of the Provisional IRA."

Further reports

An Irish Independent report of September 2007 stated:

"The people believed locally to have been responsible for directing the murder of Paul Quinn, who had every major bone in his body broken in a prolonged beating with iron bars and pickaxe handles by nine men, are brothers, both long-serving IRA men who are heavily involved in fuel smuggling. They are also closely associated with Thomas Murphy, "the local IRA boss who holds sway over what is now a crime empire in the border area."

In October 2011, his parents were featured in an RTE news report, stating they still believe people living locally "know all about" the murder and have called on them to go to the Gardai or the Police Service of Northern Ireland to "get it off their chest'."

In 2015, the killing of Kevin McGuigan caused Quinn's parents to recall the torture and murder of their son.

Reactions

Archbishop of Armagh Sean Brady spoke out against the murder and appealed for the arrest of those involved.

In November 2007, the Ulster Unionist Party peer, Lord Laird of Artigarvan, invoked parliamentary privilege in the House of Lords to name the alleged killers, stating that the killing arose from a dispute between Quinn and the son of Vincent Traynor, whom he described as "a local IRA chief". He also raised at Westminster allegations by the Quinn family and other locals that one of the men used as 'bait' in the Quinn death is under threat from the South Armagh Provisionals.

Discovery of body of Gerard Evans

The murder is believed to have led in part to the discovery of the body of another victim, Gerard Evans. Journalist Suzanne Breen wrote in October 2010 that the Sunday Tribune had received information in 2009 about the location of his body from a member of his execution squad, who claimed he had been influenced by the death of Quinn in deciding to speak out. Evans's body was discovered in 2010.