SF suspends seven over McCartney murder claim

SINN FÉIN last night suspended seven members of the party in Belfast amid allegations that they were involved in the murder of Robert McCartney.

The dramatic development came on the eve of the party’s Árd Fheis which starts in Dublin this evening.

It was a decisive move by Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams to confront the crisis in the republican movement caused by the murder of the Belfast father-of-two. It will also be perceived as the party finally succumbing to the intense political pressure exerted on it by the determination of the McCartney family to obtain justice.