Police release man in McCartney murder probe

A man questioned about the murder of Belfast father-of-two Robert McCartney was released by detectives last night.

He is the 11th person to have been arrested and questioned.

The man presented himself yesterday at a police station with his solicitor for questioning about the January 30 beating and stabbing outside a Belfast city centre bar.

Brendan Devine, who was drinking with Mr McCartney at Magennis’s Bar, was also seriously wounded during the attack.

The IRA has been under pressure in recent weeks from Mr McCartney’s sisters to ensure members of the organisation and others involved answer the allegations against them in court.

Police said the man was released last night while police carried out further inquiries.

Yesterday the family insisted they wanted the courts to deal with their brother’s murder.

They were responding to an IRA statement on Tuesday which confirmed the Provisionals offered at a five-and-a-half-hour meeting with the family to have the killers shot.

Paula, Catherine, Claire, Donna and Gemma McCartney and Robert’s partner Bridgeen Hagans have also alleged witnesses are being intimidated.

Up to 70 witnesses in Magennis’s bar at the time of the murder still have not provided police with enough information, they noted.