He directed new plays by Peter Arnott and George Gunn as well as the first Scottish production of Howard Barker's Pity In History.
Like so many theatre workers he had a parallel career in television appearing in a number of dramas for BBC Scotland, Granada, STV and ITV.
[2] An active anti-nuclear campaigner, Quinan was twice arrested for breach of the peace during blockades of the Faslane Nuclear Submarine base during his time as an MSP.
In 2002, while a vice-convener of the Scottish Parliament's cross-party group on Palestine, Quinan visited the Middle East on a week-long tour, linking with the Red Crescent and International Solidarity Movement.
[5] Quinan travelled to the West Bank as part of a group, but Israelis soldiers denied them entrance to Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah.
[6] For the 2003 Parliament election Quinan stood down from being a candidate in the West of Scotland, and instead sought nomination in his home city of Edinburgh.
Quinan had said that Scottish people "have an opportunity to change the lives and life chances of our children for the future", but added that "if you vote 'No' [and] you leave them with more of the same, then you're a bad parent.