'Stay out of politics,' McGuinness warns McCartney sisters

Sinn Féin chief Martin McGuinness tonight urged IRA murder victim Robert McCartney’s sisters to stay out of party politics.

The Mid Ulster MP warned the family that they could risk losing popular support for their campaign to get justice over the pub brawl killing.

As it emerged that one of the chief suspects in the inquiry is to be questioned by detectives, Mr McGuinness told BBC Radio Ulster: “The McCartneys need to be very careful.

“To step over that line, which is a very important line, into the world of party politics, can do a huge disservice to their campaign.

“In fact, it can dismay and disillusion an awful lot of people, tens of thousands of people who support them in their just demands.”

Mr McGuinness also stressed that any witnesses who were in the Belfast bar on the night of the attack should contact the Police Ombudsman, Nuala O’Loan.

He later insisted that his comments, made as Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams was bracing for a fierce US backlash over the murder, had been taken out of context.

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin has disclosed that a second party election candidate, Deirdre Hargey, was in Magennis’s pub when Mr McCartney was first attacked, and was still there when the police arrived.

But she denied seeing the brawl that led to the knife attack, which left Mr McCartney, 33, dying on the street outside.

Ms Hargey, 23, a community development worker, is due to stand in May’s local government elections.

She said: “I did not witness the fracas in the bar, or the incident outside the bar.” Cora Groogan is the other Sinn Féin candidate who confirmed this weekend that she was also in the bar.

Sean Hayes, a former south Belfast councillor, is also understood to have given a statement to his solicitor about being there.

All three have made statements that were today sent to Mrs O’Loan’s office. She will forward them to investigating officers.

The involvement of two of the party’s new generation of political representatives will cause a beleaguered and isolated Mr Adams much embarrassment in Washington and New York later this week.

He has already been snubbed three times over St Patrick’s Day events on Thursday, and faces tough questioning from the Irish American lobby, which includes some of his closest supporters.

Senator Ted Kennedy called off planned talks amid alarming allegations of Provisional criminal operations.

The Sinn Féin leader has also been refused a meeting with President George Bush at the White House.

And he will not be attending the St Patrick’s Day lunch hosted by Dennis Hastert, the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Mr McCartney’s five sisters and fiancee Bridgeen Hagans are also heading to America this week on the next stage of their campaign to force the father-of-two’s killers into court.

As well as meetings with President Bush and Senator Kennedy, private talks have been set up with Senator Hillary Clinton.

The family believes that witnesses to the murder have been frightened into silence by the IRA men involved.

Even though the Provisionals have expelled three volunteers and Sinn Féin has suspended seven members over the January 30 attack, frustrated detectives have yet to charge anyone because no-one has agreed to testify.

However, one of the three men dismissed by the IRA over the stabbing is due to be interviewed by police.

A solicitor for the man contacted detectives today, and it is believed that they plan to interview him at a later date over allegations that he was heavily involved.

So far police have questioned 11 people over the stabbing, including another senior Provisional dismissed from the organisation because of his suspected involvement.

It is understood that Brendan Devine, an associate of Mr McCartney who survived the attack, has given a video-taped statement to police.

A PSNI spokeswoman said tonight: “It is not usually our policy to discuss any specific issues concerning witnesses in a live investigation.

“However, we can confirm that any individuals whose name and contact details were taken on the night have subsequently been contacted by members of the investigation team.

“Whether or not they chose to engage with police at that time is a matter for them.”

As the pressure on republicans continued to mount, the Government, incensed by the murder and allegations that the IRA carried out the £26.5m (€37.9m) Northern Bank robbery, tonight demanded urgent action.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said: “Sinn Féin has to face facts. And the reality is that it is a crisis of its own making.

“To try to blame others, to claim that this came out of partisan political rivalry, is simply nonsense.

“There is a recognition in Sinn Féin that the IRA must wither away.

“I say that it has to happen sooner, in the interests not just of political progress but of the communities it purports to serve and which have been given a new voice by the heroic McCartney sisters.”