SF woman pulls out of election

A Sinn Féin member who was in a Belfast bar on the night father-of-two Robert McCartney was murdered will not contest the local government elections, it emerged tonight.

Deirdre Hargey had been selected to run alongside former Sinn Féin Lord Mayor Alex Maskeyin the Laganbank ward in south Belfast on May 5.

But a party spokesman confirmed she was not put forward as a candidate when nominations closed yesterday because of a change of plan.

Ms Hargey was one of three Sinn Féin members identified last month as having been in Magennis‘s Bar on January 30 when a row broke out between republicans, Mr McCartney and a friend of his, Brendan Devine.

Mr McCartney and Mr Devine were both stabbed and beaten outside the bar, in an incident which resulted in republicans facing demands from senior politicians in Ireland, Britain and the United States for the standing down of the IRA.

Following an internal investigation into claims that some of its members were involved in the murder and a cover-up operation, the Provisionals expelled three members.

The organisation also confirmed the McCartney family turned down an offer to have those involved shot.

Tonight, the sister of Robert McCartney, Catherine, said Sinn Féin needed to give a clearer explanation as to why Ms Hargey was not standing.

“I don‘t think it‘s that clear why they have changed their plans,” she said.

“Deirdre Hargey only gave a statement to the Police Ombudsman through her solicitor after she and others were publicly identified, even though Gerry Adams had appealed long before that for republicans with information to pass it on.

“If this move is as a result of her response, then I would regard it as a sincere step. If, however, they have done this simply because of an electoral strategy, then I don‘t really think we have moved forward. It‘s really up to Sinn Féin to explain what is going on.”