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Say our son was not a criminal - parents of Paul Quinn plea to Conor Murphy

Say our son was not a criminal - parents of Paul Quinn plea to Conor Murphy.

The parents of Paul Quinn are demanding Sinn Fein's Conor Murphy unequivocally states that their son was not a criminal. The Sinn Fein Finance Minister Conor Murphy has failed to make it clear that he does not believe Paul Quinn was a criminal, despite Mr Quinn's mother and father's desperate pleas for him to do so. Paul Quinn was brutally murdered in 2007, every bone in his body from his neck down was broken and his parents were obviously left distraught. Soon after Paul's death, Sinn Fein's Conor Murphy said Paul Quinn was a criminal. Then this week, a bizarre situation unfolded when there was a dramatic u-turn by Sinn Fein within 24 hours. On Monday night, Mary Lou McDonald told RTE she believed Conor Murphy had made it clear to her that he had never made the comments in the first place. Then, 24 hours later, Mary Lou admitted to Miriam O'Callagahan they had been said. Yesterday, Conor Murphy issued an apology. But, crucially, Conor Murphy failed to clear up one of the central reasons for Mr and Mrs Quinn's distress. He said he was apologising because of the hurt his comments caused, but he failed to say he was withdrawing his comments because they were untrue. This, despite him admitting that he had no evidence to make them in the first place. Michelle O'Neill and Mary Lou McDonald have said Mr Quinn was not a criminal. But Conor Murphy still will not say out loud Paul Quinn was not a criminal. Is Mary Lou MacDonald prepared to instruct Conor Murphy to do so? Stephen spoke to UUP MLA Doug Beattie, SDLP Councillor Pete Byrne, Alliance MLA Kellie Armstrong and Mick Fealty from Slugger O'Toole website.

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1 hour, 5 minutes

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