Gardai confirm Ferris spoken to in Quinn probe
Gardai have confirmed that they spoke to Sinn Fein TD Martin Ferris about the Border murder of Paul Quinn.
They said the interview was part of routine house-to-house inquiries carried out by the gardai and the PSNI near the Monaghan south\Armagh border.
Mr Ferris was in the home of former IRA leader Brian Keenan in Cullyhanna village when police called there.
The Dail deputy told gardai that he had been visiting Mr Keenan, who was a friend and was seriously ill.
Gardai had been accompanying PSNI officers during house inquiries in south Armagh and subsequently interviewed a number of people on this side of the Border.
Mr Ferris called to Tralee garda station last January and told them he did not know Mr Quinn and had no information on what had happened to him.
He said that if he did learn anything about his death he would pass on the information to the relevant authorities.
Paul Quinn (21) died in hospital two hours after he had been subjected to a barrage of blows from iron bars and cudgels by a gang of up to 10 men after being lured to a shed near the Co Monaghan village of Oram on October 20 last year.
Mr Quinn's internal injuries included damage to his brain and lungs while a post-mortem examination concluded that he died from blunt force trauma as a result of injuries inflicted to almost every part of his body.
The Government and a member of the International Monitoring Commission, John Grieve, have accepted that former members of the Provisional IRA or their associates may have been involved in the murder.
Justice Minister Brian Lenihan said there was no evidence to indicate it had been sanctioned by the IRA leadership.
- Tom Brady Security Editor
