EU to fund McCartney sisters' legal action

Euro MPs today overwhelmingly backed the McCartney sisters’ fight for justice over the murder of their brother Robert.

A resolution in Strasbourg called for the unprecedented use of EU anti-terrorism funds to finance a civil legal action if Northern Ireland police fail to bring a criminal prosecution.

Father-of-two Mr McCartney, 33, was allegedly stabbed and beaten to death after a row with IRA members in a Belfast bar on January 30 .

Today’s resolution claimed Mr McCartney “was brutally murdered by members of the self-styled ‘Irish Republican Army’ who attempted to cover-up the crime and ordered all witnesses to be silent about the involvement of IRA members”.

It accused Sinn Féin of failing to call on those responsible or who witnessed the attack to to cooperate fully and directly with a Northern Ireland Police Service investigation.

And it expressed support for the McCartney family’s fight for justice, praising the sisters and Mr McCartney’s partner for refusing to accept the “code of silence” and for “bravely and persistently” challenging the IRA by demanding justice.

The two Sinn Féin MEPs, Bairbre de Brun and Mary Lou McDonald, refused to back the resolution, endorsing instead a separate motion less critical of the party and the IRA, but fully backing the McCartney family’s determination to see those responsible for Mr McCartney’s death face trial.

The resolution was backed by 555-4 with 48 abstentions.

The Sinn Féin-backed alternative, which was voted down, acknowledged that “members of the Irish Republican Army are alleged to be among those responsible for the murder”.

It said: “Sinn Féin has repeatedly called for justice, and has called for those responsible for the murder to cooperate fully and directly with those who will be in a position to assist in the prosecution of Robert McCartney’s killers in a court of law.”

It deplored and condemned the killing of Mr McCartney and expressed condolences to his family.

But it did not call for EU funds to fight a civil court action if necessary.

After the vote Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicolson accused Sinn Féin of using “weasel words“.

Mr Nicholson said: “Everyone knows that Sinn Féin and the IRA are inextricably linked. They have simply stonewalled all appeals to bring those responsible for this evil deed to justice.

“The document’s meticulous and crafty wording sought to enable Sinn Féin to wriggle out of its embarrassment over the outrage provoked by the murder. But the Parliament’s resolution is condemnation of Sinn Féin and the IRA as much as it is condemnation of Robert McCartney’s murder.”