Quinn brothers

Jason, Richard and Mark Quinn were three brothers who were all killed in a firebomb attack on their home in Ballymoney on 12 July 1998, towards the end of the three-decade period known as "The Troubles".

The murders had taken place at the height of the stand-off over the Orange Order march at Drumcree. The boys, aged 9, 10 and 11, died after a petrol bomb was thrown through a window in the rear of their house by Loyalists at around half past four in the morning. The boys' mum and family friends escaped the resulting fire with minor injuries. The family was of mixed religion, the father being Protestant and the mother Roman Catholic, who were living in a predominantly Protestant housing estate. The children attended a local state school. A fourth brother, Lee, was staying with a relative in Rasharkin at the time of the attack. The M.P. for the area, Dr. Ian Paisley, visited the site of the attack and described the murders as "diabolical" and "repugnant".^[1]

Representatives of other groups from all sides of the constitutional issue in Northern Ireland also condemned the killings.^[2] Thousands of Catholics and Protestants attended the boys' funeral two days later.^[1]

At the brothers' Requiem Mass, the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Down and Connor, Dr. Walsh observed that "For all too long the airwaves and the printed page have been saturated with noises - strident, harsh, discordant noises - carrying words of hatred, of incitement, of recrimination, words not found in the vocabulary of Christianity. But the time for words is over. It's now time for silence, a silence in which we will hear the voice of God."

Jailed

A loyalist named Garfield Gilmour was jailed in 1999 for life for his part, as a driver, in the attack and murder of the brothers.^[2]

The Orange Order released a press statement a year after the attack, stating, "According to today's judgment the murders were a combination of a sectarian attack by the UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) and a personal grudge between Gilmore and the uncle of the three boys."^[3]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "1998: Children die in Drumcree protests". ON THIS DAY (BBC News). 1998-07-12. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/12/newsid_2500000/2500503.stm. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Life for Quinn boys' murder". BBC News. 1999-10-29. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/493558.stm. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 
3. ^ Rev. William Bingham (1999-10-29). "PRESS RELEASE FROM REV. WILLIAM BINGHAM". Press Statements. The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland. http://www.grandorangelodge.co.uk/press/PressReleases-1999/991029-rev-william-bingham.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 

Sources

• Lost Lives:The stories of the men, women and children who died as a result of the Northern Ireland troubles, David McKittrick, Seamus Kelters, Brian Feeney and Christ Thornton, pp.1434-1436. ISBN 9 781840 182279.