“He rang our house and was looking to speak to me..”

After meeting with the Republic of Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, and then with Justice Minister, Brian Lenihan, and briefly with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, and apparently securing some movement from their earlier statements, the parents of Paul Quinn met today with the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Shaun Woodward, and they emerged to claim that the British government also shared the view that Paul Quinn was not a criminal. But, as Mark Devenport notes, the reports also revealed that the Northern Ireland Regional Development minister, Sinn Féin’s Conor Murphy, MP, MLA, had attempted to contact the family by phone during the week

Mr Quinn said: “I spoke to him (Mr Murphy) for about half a minute or so. He rang our house and was looking to speak to me but I had some conditions before I would speak – to lift the criminality thing in public and all that. He didn`t say he`d do it. So I just left it at that. I told him that whenever he wanted to do that sort of thing maybe we might consider speaking to him.”

Btw, that request could be made to others in Sinn Féin..

[Gerry Adams on 22 October] “I do not believe that there was any republican involvement in this murder.

“This murder is in our view linked to fuel smuggling involving criminals.”

One more time then, “It’s far better people tell the truth on the thing..”

Of course, that requires some clarity of vision..

And, as has been mentioned in connection to another recent event – “Justice is the glue that holds society together.”

Pete Baker