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Gerry Adams hands names of seven pub brawl murder suspects to the police
 Five working-class women demanding justice for the murder of their brother by the IRA last night wrung an unprecedented concession from its political wing when Gerry Adams announced that he had handed over the names of fellow republicans to a police body. The Sinn Fein president — named in recent weeks by the Irish Government as a member of the Provisional IRA's seven-member ruling Army Council — said that he had passed the names of seven party members to the Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland. The move comes after allegations by the sisters of Robert McCartney, 33, that the Roman Catholic father of two children was murdered in a pub by members of the IRA who then warned witnesses to stay silent. The McCartney sisters have refused to be silent, despite their roots in the close-knit republican stronghold of Short Strand, East Belfast, and called publicly on the IRA to give up the killers. On Sunday they staged the first demonstration in the community against the IRA's paramilitary rule of law. The family pressure, widely supported at republican grassroots level, on Sinn Fein and the IRA to take action against members who have been tarnished as common criminals by their actions brought a breakthrough last night: the acceptance of the authority of Northern Ireland's policing arrangements for the first time. Until now that had eluded the best efforts of Tony Blair, Bertie Ahern, the Irish Prime Minister, and even intense political input from the United States. In a statement Mr Adams acknowledged the profound damage to the republican cause wrought by Mr McCartney's murder a month ago. "I am deeply angry about the alleged involvement of a number of republicans in the killing of Robert McCartney," he said. "I believe I am speaking for the broad republican constituency in publicly articulating my outrage and anger at what has happened. All of those involved in this horrific incident must make themselves fully accountable for their actions. Nothing short of this is acceptable." Giving his first full account of the events, he admitted that he had met the dead man's sisters. "At a meeting on Thursday, February 24, the family gave me a list of people who they allege were involved. As party president, I immediately instructed the leadership of Sinn Fein in Belfast to establish if any of those named by the family were members of Sinn Fein. I was informed that seven of those named are members of Sinn Fein. All were immediately suspended from the party. This is on a without-prejudice basis." He added that they would remain suspended "pending the outcome of the legal process". "If any of these seven are found to have been involved in the events surrounding the death of Robert McCartney, or if they do not provide truthful accounts as the McCartney family have requested, Sinn Fein will take further "disciplinary action to expel these individuals," he said. In an address in Dublin last night the Catholic Archbishop Sean Brady paid tribute to the courage and the determination of Mr McCartney's family. He added: "It is not good enough; it is not consistent with the principle of freedom, for people to present this information in a way which cannot be used to secure a conviction. What is certainly becoming clearer every day is that a fundamental shift is taking place in the peace process. The language of constructive ambiguity and moral murk has had its day." Posted by: Bulldog 2005-03-04 |
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