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A savage murder at a remote Irish border farm last week shook Northern Ireland's fledgling administration. The family of 21-year-old Paul Quinn, battered to death, pointed the finger at the IRA, saying he had fallen foul of members of the organisation after having clashes with two Republicans.
Security sources say the brutal but carefully planned killing, involving at least nine men, was the work of former IRA members acting without the organisation's sanction.
The family's allegation of IRA responsibility was daring. After decades of IRA domination of the south Armagh-Monaghan border, most in conflict with the IRA there keep prudently silent.
The accusation from the Quinn family endangered the very existence of the Stormont Administration jointly headed by the Rev Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein.
Paisley and his Democratic Unionist Party went into Government with Republicans on the strict understanding that the IRA had ended all activities. He has since publicly placed much trust in Sinn Fein.
When the news of the killing broke, Paisley made contact with London, Dublin and Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde. The Irish Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, also moved rapidly.
Both police forces were quick to say that they had no evidence that the killing had been sanctioned by the IRA. But police in the Irish Republic, in particular, made no secret of their intelligence that formerly prominent IRA personnel had killed Paul Quinn.
McGuinness and Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein issued strong statements condemning the killing and calling on anyone with information to help police on both sides of the border.
According to sources, Quinn had two recent brushes with Republicans around the Cullyhanna area where he lived, and had been ordered to leave the district.
Neighbours and others, however, believe that Paul Quinn was involved in smuggling diesel fuel across the border. The belief is that former IRA figures set out to demonstrate that, while the IRA may be inactive as an organisation, Republicans will not tolerate "disrespect".
A week last Saturday, Quinn was lured to a farm shed by a telephone call. When he arrived, he was seized by a group of men who beat him to a pulp.
The gang did not kill him at the scene, and when police arrived he was both conscious and lucid. The south Armagh tradition of "omerta" is so strong that he refused to tell police who had assaulted him. He died later that evening in hospital.
Mr Adams said: "The people involved are criminals. They need to be brought to justice and it is fairly obvious to me that this is linked to fuel smuggling and to criminal activity. There's no Republican involvement whatsoever in this man's murder."
The killing is a disturbing development when paramilitary activities had fast been declining in south Armagh, an area that a British minister once christened "bandit country". Recent violent events demonstrate that the bandits have not gone away.
