Man held in connection with McCartney murder

A man was arrested today in connection with the murder of Robert McCartney, police in Belfast said.

It is understood the man presented himself to police with a solicitor this morning.

Father-of-two Mr McCartney was beaten and stabbed outside a bar in Belfast city centre on January 30 and died later in hospital.

His family have campaigned for the killers to be brought justice and have accused the IRA of shielding those responsible.

Police said the man was arrested on suspicion of murder.

The arrest followed an extraordinary statement from the IRA yesterday in which it said it had made an offer to Mr McCartney's family to shoot those responsible.

The family rejected the offer during a five-and-a-half-hour meeting.

The IRA also claimed four people were directly involved in the killing of Mr McCartney and insisted only two of those were members of its organisation. The IRA said it knew the identity of all these men.

It said it wanted witnesses who could assist the family’s quest for justice in any way to come forward.

Its statement added: “That remains our position. The only interest the IRA has in this case is to see truth and justice achieved.”

The statement received widespread political condemnation.

Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy claimed the Provisionals had proposed to act like a kangaroo court.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell described the statement as bizarre, claiming it showed how deep the crisis was in the republican movement.

In the British House of Commons today, Prime Minister Tony Blair described the Provisionals’ statement as “extraordinary”.

He told Labour MP Kevin McNamara during Prime Minister’s Questions: “The IRA statement yesterday frankly defies any description. It was quite an extraordinary thing to say. It cannot be in any shape or form justified.

“There is no way we can make any progress in Northern Ireland that includes Sinn Féin unless we have a complete and total end to violence of whatever kind.”