Police release man questioned over McCartney murder
The man was arrested after he turned up at Musgrave Street police station with his solicitor.
He was questioned after appeals from Mr McCartney’s family and Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams for republicans who witnessed or were involved in events leading to the forklift driver’s killing in a Belfast city centre bar to come forward.
The IRA also issued a statement on Saturday night, confirming it had expelled three of its members following an internal investigation into the killing.
In recent weeks, the McCartney family had claimed IRA members were involved in the January 30 stabbing and beating and the organisation was trying to shield them.
A PSNI spokesman said the man was released unconditionally.
Sinn Féin and the IRA have been under intense political pressure over the past three weeks over their handling of Mr McCartney’s murder.
Gerry Adams and other Sinn Féin leaders have urged witnesses to go to solicitors, priests and community leaders with information to help the McCartney family.
However, they have stopped short of urging people to contact police investigating the attack because Sinn Féin will not endorse new policing arrangements which other Nationalists like the SDLP have supported.
In a statement the IRA said the three members it expelled included two in senior positions.
It also said one of the three had made a statement to a solicitor immediately after the incident and they had told the remaining two in strong terms to come forward and take responsibility for their actions.
The McCartney family welcomed the expulsions but said up to 20 people needed to come forward.
Robert McCartney’s sister Paula said not all of these were IRA members but they were key witnesses to the murder and the clean-up operation which occurred afterwards.
Unionists and nationalists have responded sceptically to the latest IRA move.
In a speech in Omagh, DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson claimed the IRA was trying to shake off blame for the murder.
“Having commenced their defence by asserting that republicans could not be criminals, Sinn Féin/IRA are now cynically constructing the myth that the IRA will not tolerate criminal behaviour and will deal with it,” he said.
SDLP leader Mark Durkan claimed the IRA and Sinn Féin had originally misjudged the public mood after the killing and were now engaged in self-serving choreography.
Justice Minister Michael McDowell said the statement underlined the need for the IRA to end all activities and described it as a slick piece of propaganda by republicans.
