James Heffernan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

At this time of year there is the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, a time when we think of loved ones who have passed. Those of the Catholic tradition will visit the graves of dead family members and friends in the next couple of weeks. I spoke to one such mother this morning. It is with her permission that I refer to the murder of her son, Paul Quinn, on this day in 2007. He was lured to a farmhouse in Tullycoora, County Monaghan, on the pretence that he would move cattle with three friends. When he got there, he saw that his friends were being held hostage. In the following our up to ten armed and masked men proceeded to pulverise him with cudgels with nails. They finished him off with iron bars. When his mother, Breege, saw him lying in a hospital bed in Drogheda, she was told by the doctors that there was nothing left to fix. With her husband, Stephen, and all those who live in the communities of south Armagh and north Monaghan, she has known for a long time that the IRA still exists. I have been saying it, too, in this Chamber for some time.