McCartney family satisfied with PSNI probe

THE sisters of murdered Belfast man Robert McCartney said yesterday that the reason his killers have not admitted responsibility for the killing is because they want to go down in history as IRA volunteers and not as psychopaths.

The McCartney sisters were speaking in Dublin yesterday, after an hour-long meeting with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in Government Buildings.

Paula McCartney said the family was satisfied with Mr Ahern’s support, as they are with the PSNI inquiry.“I don’t believe the PSNI have not been pro-active,” she said.

“There was a forensic clean-up. There was intimidation of witnesses. That makes it understandable why the investigation is so slow.”

Ms McCartney said that Gerry Adams’s statement last week calling on the IRA to disband would have “no effect on our campaign”.

She reiterated that the family was still planning to hold a rally for Robert in Dublin in the coming weeks and would follow it with a rally in Belfast. “We believe people in Dublin support our campaign and would like to demonstrate their support,” she said.

The McCartney family will also hold a vigil next Sunday outside Magennis’ Bar in Belfast, where Robert was stabbed to death to death on January 30.