Shooting offer was a mistake: McGuinness

The IRA’s statement confirming it had offered to shoot the killers of Belfast father-of-two Robert McCartney was a mistake, Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness acknowledged today.

As republicans prepared to commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising with events on both sides of the border, McGuinness said the offer had detracted from the IRA’s attempt to dispel claims it was covering up the January 30 murder.