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Robert McCartney (1971 – 31 January 2005) was the victim of a murder in Belfast, Northern Ireland, allegedly carried out by members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. He was a father of two small children and was engaged to be married in June 2005 to his long-term partner, Bridgeen Hagans. He was a Catholic and lived in the predominantly nationalist Short Strand area of East Belfast and was said by some to be a supporter of Sinn Féin.^[1]

Contents 1 The fight 2 Investigation 3 Political fallout 4 Criminal charges 5 Driven out by intimidation 6 External links 7 References 7.1 Further references

[edit] The fight

Robert McCartney was involved in an altercation in a bar — Magennis's — on May Street, in the centre of Belfast, on the night of 30 January 2005. He was found unconscious with stab wounds in Cromac Street and died in hospital the following morning. He was 33 years old.^[2]

The fight arose when his friend, Brendan Devine, was accused of making an insulting gesture or comment to a woman in the Co bar. When Devine refused to accept this or apologise, a brawl began. He was then dragged into Verner Street, beaten and stabbed. Devine also suffered a knife attack, but survived. In June 2005, Brendan Devine was sentenced to seven years in prison for taking part in a robbery on the outskirts of Belfast. ^[3]

[edit] Investigation

When the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) launched a murder investigation they were met with a "wall of silence"; none of the estimated 72 witnesses to the altercation came forward with information.^{[citation needed]} This is not an unusual attitude among Irish nationalists, who have mixed views of the new police force. In conversations with family members, many potential witnesses claimed to have been in the pub's toilets at the time of the attacks; this led to the toilets being dubbed the TARDIS, after the time machine in the television series Doctor Who, which is much bigger on the inside than on the outside.^[4]

Sinn Féin claimed that the investigation was being used as an excuse to disrupt the community and accused the PSNI of heavy-handedness. The IRA expelled three members some weeks later.

[edit] Political fallout

Gerry Adams, President of Sinn Féin, urged witnesses to come forward to "the family, a solicitor, or any other authoritative or reputable person or body".^[5] Adams continued, "I want to make it absolutely clear that no one involved acted as a republican or on behalf of republicans." He suspended seven members of Sinn Féin. Adams stopped short of asking witnesses to contact the police directly, unsurprising in light of Sinn Féin's historic lack of confidence in the police in Northern Ireland, whether it be the PSNI or its predecessor the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). The usefulness of making witness statements to the victim's family or to a solicitor was derided by the McCartneys and by a prominent lawyer and SDLP politician, Alban Maginness, soon afterwards.^[6]

On February 16 the IRA issued a statement denying involvement in the murder and calling on the perpetrators to "take responsibility".^[7]

On March 8 the IRA issued an unprecedented statement saying that four people were directly involved in the murder, that the IRA knew their identity, that two were IRA volunteers, and that the IRA had made an offer to McCartney's family to shoot the people directly involved in the murder.^[8]

Since this time, the sisters of Robert McCartney have maintained an increasingly public campaign for justice (through the legal process) which saw Martin McGuinness make a public pronouncement that the sisters should be careful that they were not being manipulated for political ends.^[9]

The McCartney family travelled to the United States during the 2005 St Patrick's Day celebrations where they were met by US Senators (including Hillary Clinton and John McCain) and US President George W. Bush who expressed support in their campaign for justice.^[10]

In December, the McCartney sisters met with UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, and told him they believed the murder had been ordered by a senior IRA member, and that Sinn Féin were still not doing all they could to help them.^[11]

On 31 January 2007, two years after the murder, and in line with the Party's new policy of supporting civil policing, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said that anyone with information about the murder should go to the police.^[12]

[edit] Criminal charges

On May 5 2005, Terence Davison and James McCormick were remanded in custody, charged with murdering McCartney and attempting to murder Devine respectively.^[13] McCormick is originally from England. They were held in the Republican wing of Maghaberry prison.^[14]

Roughly four months later the accused were released on bail,^[15] and in June 2006, the attempted murder charge against McCormick was dropped, leaving a charge of causing an affray.^[16]

The trial of Terrence Davidson started on May the 22nd in Belfast Crown Court. Davidson is charged with murder, and with affray along with James McCormick and Joseph Gerard Emmanuel Fitzpatrick.^[17]

[edit] Driven out by intimidation

The McCartney family had lived in the Short Strand area of Belfast for five generations. However some local people in the Short Strand area, which is a largely Nationalist area, did not welcome their dispute with the IRA and allegedly drove them to leave by threats of violence.^{[citation needed]} The last McCartney sister to leave the area (Paula) departed Short Strand on 26 October 2005 ^[18].

In November 2005, the McCartney sisters and Bridgeen Hagans, the former partner of Robert McCartney, refused to accept the Outstanding achievement award at The Women of the Year Awards, because it would have meant their sharing a platform with Margaret Thatcher, traditionally a hate figure in the Irish republican community.^[19].

[edit] External links

• Police Service of Northern Ireland page appealing for information about the murder
• Debates in the European Parliament on 'Justice for the McCartney Family', 2005-05-09
• Minutes of the European Parliament on a resolution 'Justice for the McCartney Family', 2005-05-10
• BBC Article on Paula McCartney Leaving Short Strand

[edit] References

[edit] Further references

• BBC reports
  • Initial report of the murder
  • Subsequent disturbances during the investigation
  • Appeal by Gerry Adams, and accusations of an IRA cover-up
  • Further controversy over the alleged cover-up
  • Reaction to IRA statement
• Other reports
  • The Newshound: Details of the events according to the victim's family
  • BreakingNews.ie: Appeal by Gerry Adams, and claims of involvement of a senior IRA man
  • BreakingNews.ie: Accusation by the family that the killing was ordered by the IRA man
• Analysis
  • The Guardian: Anger in nationalist communities at the IRA
  • The Observer: Reaction in the Short Strand and further details of the murder
  • The Blanket: Article by a Republican on the reaction to the murder
  • Eamonn McCann: Article by a socialist on the reaction to the murder