02/11/2012

Republican Charged Over McCartney Murder

A leading republican faces charges relating to the murder of Robert McCartney in 2005.

The accused is reported to be Padraic Wilson, who was the leader of IRA prisoners at the Maze in the early nineties.

Wilson was a key figure in gaining republican prisoners’ support for IRA ceasefires and Sinn Féin’s cross-party talks at Stormont, which led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

Now he faces charges over the murder of Robert McCartney.

Robert McCartney was a father of two from the Short Strand area of Belfast. He was 33 years old when he was beaten and stabbed following an argument at Magennis’s Bar on May Street close to Belfast City Hall.

Following their brother’s murder, McCartney’s sisters accused Sinn Féin and republicans of working to cover up the killing and intimidating and persuading witnesses.

Their subsequent justice campaign resulted in a trip to the White House.

It was claimed the murder happened after IRA members were involved in a fight. Sinn Féin rejected the claims.

But the sisters' campaign raised international awareness of the murder and also took them to Sinn Féin's ard fheis in Dublin.

No one was ever found guilty of Mr McCartney's killing, despite reports that up to 40 people were in the bar at the time he was assaulted.

In 2008, 51-year-old Terence Davison was acquitted of the murder and two other men were cleared of charges connected to the killing.

Following accusations from the victim’s sisters, the IRA expelled three members over the murder. Sinn Féin subsequently suspended seven of its members.

(IT)

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A man has been arrested in connection with the murder of Robert McCartney in 2005. A 51-year-old man from County Armagh is being questioned over the father-of-two's death. McCartney, 33, was stabbed to death outside Magennis's bar, now named Rooney Drew's, in Belfast.
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Arrest In McCartney Murder Inquest
A man has been arrested in connection with the murder of Robert McCartney in 2005. The 53-year-old man has been taken to Antrim police station for questioning. Robert McCartney was a father of two from the Short Strand area of Belfast.
26 April 2005
Sinn Fein expel party members over McCartney murder
Sinn Fein has expelled two of its members over the murder of Belfast man Robert McCartney, it confirmed yesterday. The party said the two individuals, who have not been named, were expelled because they refused to follow an instruction by party president Gerry Adams to give a “full and frank statement” about the killing.
02 March 2005
SF abstains from City Council's McCartney police motion
Sinn Fein has been criticised for not backing a motion at Belfast City Council which called for anyone with information in regard to the murder of Robert McCartney to go to the police. The SDLP motion was passed by 33 votes to none against during a debate on Tuesday night.
23 March 2005
IRA again deny involvement in McCartney murder
The IRA has again reiterated its stance that it was not behind the murder of Belfast man Robert McCartney in January. In its Easter statement published in the republican paper An Phoblacht on Tuesday the republican group said that Mr McCartney’s crime was wrong. “The IRA has spelt out its position in relation to the killing of Robert McCartney.