McCartneys will continue their fight for justice

The McCartney family will head for home today after a whirlwind tour of Washington that saw their campaign to hold the IRA to account make an unprecedented impact.

The five sisters of murdered Belfast man Robert McCartney were thrust into the spotlight when they decided to take their fight for justice to the US.

As a result they won the support of President George Bush, Senators Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, Peter King and John McCain and US envoy to Northern Ireland Mitchell Reiss.

The family’s campaign to get the men who brutally murdered their 33-year-old brother to court has been hailed a huge success that triggered an international protest against Sinn Féin’s continued links with the IRA.

The party, which has been accused of a sinister cover-up over the January 30 attack, claims it has done all it can to encourage witnesses to step forward, and has accused the PSNI of deliberately protracting the investigation for political gain.

But while the five sisters, and Mr McCartney’s fiancee Bridgeen Hagans, acknowledge that their story has now been heard, they have no intention of reducing the pressure until they get justice.

“We came here to see if anyone would listen to us, and ultimately what we have found is that there’s no one left to tell,” said Paula McCartney as she prepared to leave Washington.

“But I don’t feel we’ve achieved what we want to achieve. We have been heard but of course that’s not enough.” On their return to Belfast the family will organise various rallies, including one outside Magennis’s pub where Mr McCartney was attacked.

They have been asked to address the European Parliament, and back on Irish soil will again be meeting with the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and US envoy Mitchell Reiss.

The sisters were encouraged by President Bush’s support. He told them that he believed the issue was more than a matter for the family, but that it could advance peace for Ireland.

He was not the only one. In the wake of the attack, Senator Kennedy warned Sinn Féin it could not continue with the “albatross of the IRA” around its neck.

Senator McCain described the IRA as “nothing more than an organised crime syndicate” which stole from banks and killed people in the street to serve members' personal interests.

And Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy warned that the peace process could not move forward until all political links to paramilitary activity had been severed.

Although doubts have been raised that the McCartney family’s high profile campaign could hinder their quest to find justice, they will arrive in Dublin tomorrow with the support of many influential people who believe their courage could bring finally peace to Northern Ireland.