This is odd. Not sure what to make of it, not least because since it was published on Sunday no one in the mainstream media seems to want to touch it. Under Donal McIntrye’s byline the Sunday World it seems took an interesting briefing from a senior Sinn Fein official…
A senior Sinn Fein official has claimed that he knows for a fact that a named notorious republican family were part of the criminal gang behind the killing – and he says they were also responsible for the brutal murder of Paul Quinn in 2007.
Gardai are now anxious to speak to the Sinn Fein press officer who made the extraordinary claims in a recorded conversation with the Sunday World this week.
Mark McLernon, a senior Sinn Fein official in Belfast, told our reporters that Paul Quinn was murdered by the republican family from Crossmaglen after he “lost a diesel lorry” and said that the same family were involved in the murder of Garda Donohoe.The Sunday World cannot name the family involved for legal reasons, but it is understood that two brothers and a sister were in the original Garda suspect line-up for the assassination of Garda Donohoe at Lordship Credit Union last January.
However, as the murder probe has progressed, officers have moved them to the periphery of the core group of five present during the botched raid.
Now Gardai are anxious to speak to Mr McLernon and any other Sinn Fein officials who may have similar knowledge about the murder, which is the largest homicide investigation in the State since the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin in 1996.
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
