“It’s far better people tell the truth on the thing”

In a Belfast Telegraph article, on the future for the IMC, Brian Rowan quotes an un-named “security source” on the killing of Paul Quinn.

So, the question for the police and the IMC is how they assess the current status of those involved – what are their links to the IRA? And will the republican leadership say something by way of explanation before the IMC next reports?

“It’s far better people tell the truth on the thing,” the source continued.

Indeed. And not just the obvious “people”.Here’s a longer version of the quoted section

[IMC Commissioner] John Grieve was speaking for all four commissioners when he said: ” Despite the fact that we are saying it is a local dispute, we do believe that those who were involved included people who are members or former members or who have associations with members or former members of the Provisional IRA.”

Those comments were made last month, and they fit with the current security assessment.

One security source asked: “Those people involved, were they doing it in the strategic interests of the IRA?”.

“No,” the source answered.

“Were they doing it for criminal interests – local control?”

“Yes,” he answered.

“Did they use their skills, or former skills of the past?”

“Yes,” the source answered.

By skills he means the methods of the past – the way an attack would have been thought through and carried out.

So, the question for the police and the IMC is how they assess the current status of those involved – what are their links to the IRA? And will the republican leadership say something by way of explanation before the IMC next reports?

“It’s far better people tell the truth on the thing,” the source continued.

We are reader supported. Donate to keep Slugger lit!

For over 20 years, Slugger has been an independent place for debate and new ideas. We have published over 40,000 posts and over one and a half million comments on the site. Each month we have over 70,000 readers. All this we have accomplished with only volunteers we have never had any paid staff.

Slugger does not receive any funding, and we respect our readers, so we will never run intrusive ads or sponsored posts. Instead, we are reader-supported. Help us keep Slugger independent by becoming a friend of Slugger. While we run a tight ship and no one gets paid to write, we need money to help us cover our costs.

If you like what we do, we are asking you to consider giving a monthly donation of any amount, or you can give a one-off donation. Any amount is appreciated.