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The Independent Monitoring Commission has backed the assertion made the family of murdered Cullyhanna man Paul Quinn that provos were involved. The monitoring body today stated: "Amongst those involved were people who had in various ways been associated with the PIRA at a local level, including as members of the organisation."There could be no clearer signal that those people from the area known as provos were behind the killing.The IMC further backed the Quinn's analysis that these provos still think they run south Armagh, despite their bosses in Belfast telling them otherwise. The IMC described how these thugs hold the young people, and many others, of the area to ransom: "Some of these people were accustomed over a substantial period of time to exercising considerable local influence,...

I was delighted to hear that El Blogador has been shortlisted for two awards at the 2008 Irish Blog Awards- Best Political Blog and Best Blog Post for my November 2007 article 'Truth And Justice For Paul Quinn'.Given the competition in both categories, there's little chance of actually winning, but it's certainly an honour to be adjudged good enough to appear alongside some of Ireland's best blogs.The actual awards ceremony takes place on Saturday, 1st March at 7.30pm at the Alexander Hotel in Dublin.Fingers...

Bertie Ahern staged somewhat of a u-turn on the floor of the Dáil today when he backtracked on his previous claims that Paul Quinn died as the result of some sort of criminal feud. When asked to comment on the case by Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, Ahern came up with a rather prosaic response that there is an “ongoing police investigation into the murder and the Garda is working very closely with the PSNI to ensure that everything possible is being done to bring the perpetrators to justice. I urge anyone with information to co-operate fully with the police investigation. It is only through full co-operation with the law enforcement agencies that the perpetrators of this vicious crime will be brought to justice.”When pressed by Labour leader Eamon Gilmore, who asked: “Will the...

After the great success of the Quinn Support Group's first public meeting in Cullyhanna just over a week ago, another meeting has been arranaged for Crossmaglen. Initially it was to have taken place in the GAA club, but it has now been moved to the community centre. The meeting takes place next Thursday, 13th December, at 8pm.Given that there was standing room only at the Cullyhanna meeting, let's hope there's enough room in Cross to fit everyone...

On a cold, wet night in November, you would expect most people in Ireland to be tucked up at home in front of the TV with the fire blazing. But that wasn't the case last night in Cullyhanna in south Armagh, where there was a massive turn-out of local people to back the family of Paul Quinn's campaign for justice. There quite literally was standing room only in the community centre.This was a gathering of ordinary, decent people who have simply come together to agree that they've had enough. A number of people in the crowd spoke of the years of intimidation they have received at the hands of paramilitaries. They talked about how they kept quiet about the beatings that their family members had received for fear of further reprisals. They spoke about the fact that they were sick of living...

I didn’t post on the brutal killing of Paul Quinn as I knew that the issue was liable to descend into petty political point-scoring. As it transpires, that is exactly what has happened, with various sides warping the truth for their own ends. However, having spoken to people on the ground and listened to the rubbish being peddled from a number of directions, I decided it was time to speak out on the killing.Firstly, Lord Laird’s claims made under parliamentary privilege were wide of the mark- if he’d bothered to talk to people in the area who know the situation on the ground rather than taking advice from a known crank, then perhaps he would have been more accurate in his claims.However, Laird’s ramblings are nothing compared to the provos’ sickening efforts to blacken the name...