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The family of a man murdered by a gang which included members of the terrorist Irish Republican Army (IRA) organisation deserve financial assistance, says the European Parliament.
Robert McCartney was killed on 30 January this year, in a fight outside Magennis’s bar in Belfast, on 30 January this year. The brawl is believed to have started after alleged IRA members accused Mr McCartney’s friend Brendan Devine of making obscene gestures to their female companion. When Mr Devine did not accept the accusation or apologise, the fight began and both men were stabbed; Mr Devine survived the attack, but Mr McCartney died of his wounds the following morning.
Fear of retribution
Although more than 70 bystanders were present in the bar that evening, not one witness has come forward. Mr McCartney’s sisters - as well as those who support them in their fight to bring their brother’s killers to justice - say this is because many people fear retribution from the paramilitary organisation. As Simon Coveney, an Irish Fine Gael MEP who supports the McCartneys, points out:
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| Click to listen to the interview with Simon Coveney | |
Stopping short
While the McCartney family mounted a very public justice campaign, bringing on board assistance from London and Washington, the IRA responded by offering to shoot those responsible. Meanwhile, the organisation’s political wing Sinn Fein, has skirted around the issue, suspending party members but always stopping short of actually telling witnesses to go to the police.
| "Sinn Fein talk a lot about how they support the McCartney family and so on, but unfortunately we still haven’t got anybody coming forward giving hard evidence, despite the fact that there were up to 70 people there on the night,” Euro MEP Simon Coveney |
Terrorist killing
Mr Coveney adds that, although he doesn’t think this was strictly a political killing, he says it nevertheless qualifies as a terrorist one, and is eligible for the EC money:
“I don’t think this was a politically-motivated murder. What seems to have happened was that a group of IRA members were coming home after a Republican rally; they were in a bar drinking, and there was an argument. It seems then that the order was given to take somebody outside and to butcher them. You have organisation here by the IRA – during and following this murder. Even though it wasn’t a politically motivated one to begin with, it was certainly a murder carried out by a terrorist organisation. From that point of view, it certainly qualifies for me as a terrorist murder.”
Sinn Fein must take responsibility
And, says Mr Coveney, Sinn Fein – with two MEPs, who both voted against the motion – has particular responsibility in helping to resolve this issue:
| “Although many people have come forward, others have not, particularly some who may have been directly involved in Robert's murder. In my view these people must give a full account through whatever conduit they choose,” Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams |