The family of a man murdered outside a Belfast pub has welcomed an IRA statement that could lift the fear of intimidation they say has stopped many witnesses from coming forward.
Police arrested a man last night and questioned him about the attack on Robert McCartney, which is being blamed on republicans, but released him today without charge.
Paula McCartney, a sister of the 33-year-old forklift driver, said: “We welcome the IRA statement and view it as removing obstacles to witnesses who were afraid to come forward with vital information and evidence.”
Mr McCartney, 33, a forklift operator, was fatally stabbed outside a busy pub on January 30 when he tried to defend his friend, Brendan Devine, from what witnesses described as a knife-wielding IRA gang. Devine survived despite having his throat and abdomen slashed.
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Police arrested seven men, including the former commander of the Belfast IRA, but released them after all refused to talk. The case was surrounded by a wall of silence, despite reports that around 100 people saw the attack. The McCartney family, who claim republicans were shielding the killers, have staged a public campaign for them to be handed over.
With intense pressure on both Sinn Fein and the IRA over the murder, the paramilitary organisation last night denied involvement in the knifing.
An IRA spokesman said: “Those who were involved must take responsibility for their own actions which run contrary to republican ideals.”
The statement added: “It has been reported that people are being intimidated or prevented from assisting the McCartney family in their search for truth and justice.
“We wish to make it absolutely clear that no-one should hinder or impede the McCartney family in their search for truth and justice. Anyone who can help the family in this should do so.”
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Ms McCartney, who has four sisters and lives in the hardline Catholic district of Short Strand, said: “The statement made by the IRA strongly supports the family’s position with regards to justice and truth prevailing.
“We appeal to anyone who can help us as a family to bring an end to this nightmare and in doing so set us free to begin our grieving for Robert.”
Three of McCartney’s sisters met the American consul-general in Belfast, Dean Pittman, as part of their efforts to mobilise pressure on Sinn Fein, the IRA-linked party.
The sisters say they believe that IRA men killed McCartney in an unplanned, alcohol-influenced rage, not under official orders.
The McCartneys have received huge support for their campaign and more than 1,000 locals from the hardline republican community attended the funeral.
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Last night, Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein president, admitted that he may be wrong to believe the IRA’s insistence that it did not rob the Northern Bank in Belfast on December 20, the UK’s biggest bank robbery.
Mr Adams’s remark, made on Spanish radio, was interpreted as a possible first step towards finding a way out of the impasse for the peace process created by the £26.5 million theft.
The British and Irish Governments, the head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Independent Monitoring Commission, which monitors paramilitary activity, have all pointed the finger at the IRA, despite its denials.
They have also said that senior Sinn Fein figures were aware of the robbery plans even as a political deal was on the verge of agreement under which the Provisionals would destroy all their weapons in return for power-sharing with the Democratic Unionists.
Mr Adams, who was promoting the Spanish-language version of a book of memoirs, told Cadena Ser Radio: “No one knows who robbed the bank. An opinion has been given that the IRA was involved. The IRA has said it was not involved and I believe it. Now maybe I’m wrong, but I believe it.
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“What I can say categorically is that Sinn Fein was not involved. So the difficulty is that it has added to the bad atmosphere. It remains my view that as we get through the elections and come back to deal with the issues, that the current difficulties will not be allowed to prevent forward movement.”
It was the first time that Mr Adams has given ground over the bank raid and suggests that he may be planning a post-election solution.
Hardline Unionists seized upon the comments as evidence of a possible change of strategy by republicans. Jeffrey Donaldson, a Democratic Unionist MP, said: “It’s the first chink. There’s no doubt that Sinn Fein is under enormous pressure and maybe it is coming round to an acknowledgement of IRA involvement.”
But David Trimble, the Ulster Unionist leader, was reluctant to attach too much significance to the remarks. He said: “Maybe it will amount to something but I wouldn’t jump to conclusions on this at all.”