‘Bizarre, breathtaking, unacceptable and strange’

THE IRA’s offer to shoot the murderers of Robert McCartney shows the Provisional movement is in “political freefall” and in deep crisis, a clearly astonished Justice Minister Michael McDowell said last night.

The IRA’s extraordinary revelation was greeted with shock and revulsion by parties on both sides of the Border and interpreted as reflecting turmoil within the republican movement.

Repeatedly describing the IRA statement as “bizarre” and “breathtaking”, Mr McDowell said it was “unacceptable” and that it was the “strangest” thing he had ever seen from the Provisional movement.