The parents of murdered Cullyhanna man Paul Quinn have welcomed a meeting with Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern as a "breakthrough".
Stephen and Briege Quinn said they were relieved that the Irish Government did not view their 21-year-old son, beaten to death at a remote Co Monaghan farm in October, as a criminal.
"[Mr Ahern] said that Paul was not a criminal, there was no record of him being a criminal and had no convictions," Mr Quinn said after the meeting at the Minister's constituency office in Dundalk, Co Louth.
Mr Quinn said he hoped to meet the Taoiseach soon about remarks he made in the Dáil after the murder suggesting the killing was linked to feuding between criminals involved in diesel laundering in the Border area.
"We are looking to get a meeting with the Taoiseach to try to get the record put straight, that Paul was not what they said he was," he said. The Taoiseach told the Dáil on November 14th the murder "was not paramilitary but pertained to feuds about criminality that were taking place".
He added the Government had received a number of reports both from gardaí "and secondhand from the PSNI, and both of them match at this stage, that this action was due to criminality".
Dermot Ahern said he was encouraged at the co-operation between the PSNI and the Garda in the murder investigation. "I very much welcome the fact that the PSNI and the Garda are working hand-in-hand," he said.
"It's an incredible change to see gardaí knocking doors in Cullyhanna and Crossmaglen to try to get some evidence about this in conjuction with the PSNI. It is vital that people come forward and give evidence. For too long the people of Cullyhanna and this area have suffered under the yoke of paramilitarism."
The Quinns were accompanied by SDLP councillor Geraldine Donnelly and MLA Dominic Bradley, who said his constituents were concerned their son's name had been slandered.
Mr Bradley said: "Second only to the brutal murder of their son, nothing has caused the Quinn family as much distress as the allegations peddled by Conor Murphy of Sinn Féin that their dead son was a criminal. The rumour mill started while his body was still on the operating table in Drogheda. The seemingly ambiguous stance of the Taoiseach made things worse, but today's clarification has been a great relief.
"This is a tremendous relief for the family. Ultimately they want to see Paul's murderers brought to justice, but it's a major step for them to have that major slur removed from their son's name."
Mr Bradley told RTÉ: "The family have made it clear that Paul had had a number of altercations with people locally [in south Armagh] in the paramilitary world. They consider that those who were responsible for Paul's death were people who were able to access paramilitary structures in the area - not necessarily sanctioned by the paramilitary organisation. Certainly those structures were brought into action to commission Paul's murder. The family expressed their gratitude to Mr Ahern for the clarity with which he spoke on the issue."
A group set up to support the family and to seek justice for Paul Quinn has held public meetings in Cullyhanna and Crossmaglen and will hold another next month in Castleblaney, Co Monaghan.