Northern Ireland

Assembly to quiz under-pressure minister Conor Murphy

Conor Murphy will face questions in the assembly on Monday
Conor Murphy will face questions in the assembly on Monday Conor Murphy will face questions in the assembly on Monday

CONOR Murphy will face questions from the assembly on Monday for the first time since he was forced to apologise to the family of murder victim Paul Quinn.

The Newry and Armagh representative will be quizzed by fellow MLAs in his capacity as Stormont finance minister.

Among those scheduled to pitch topical questions at the Sinn Féin minister are the DUP's William Irwin and the SDLP's Justin McNulty, who like Mr Murphy represent the constituency in which 21-year-old Mr Quinn lived before his murder in 2007.

Mr McNulty has been a long-time campaigner on behalf of the Quinn family and had previously called on Mr Murphy to withdraw his claim, made just weeks after Mr Quinn was beaten to death in a Co Monaghan shed, that he was "involved in smuggling and criminality".

Mr Murphy apologised to the Quinns earlier this week and also plans to write to the family.

However, despite saying he had no evidence to substantiate his claim that Mr Quinn was a smuggler, the minister has yet to join his party leader Mary Lou McDonald and deputy leader Michelle O'Neill in saying that the dead man was not a criminal.

While MLAs are understood to be keen to quiz Mr Murphy on the controversy that has prompted calls for his resignation, questions that do not relate to his finance portfolio are expected to be ruled out of order by the assembly speaker.

Ms McDonald yesterday spoke about her phone call on Thursday evening with Mr Quinn's mother Breege, which the Sinn Féin leader said went "very well".

The two women spoke by phone for around 15 minutes and Ms McDonald said she hopes to meet Mrs Quinn face to face soon.

"I have conveyed directly to Breege our profound sympathy at the loss of her son. Obviously the family are dealing with very significant trauma and in truth will deal with that trauma for the rest of their lives," she said.

"I'm very anxious that the police on both sides of the border need to do their job and advance this investigation."

She said a meeting with Mrs Quinn would be worthwhile and it was important the family speak with Mr Murphy.

"Above all Paul had a very, very vicious and brutal death and the idea that those who are responsible for that are not brought to justice is, for me, unthinkable," she said.

Mr Quinn, a 21-year-old from Cullyhanna in south Armagh, was beaten to death by a gang of around a dozen men in a farm shed across the border near Castleblayney, Co Monaghan.

His family blame members of the IRA, but Sinn Féin has long denied republican involvement.

While there have been calls for Mr Murphy's resignation, none of his Stormont executive partners have urged him to resign.