Brave siblings stand up to IRA

[Stella_Artois]

THEY have no guns, no bodyguards, nor any police protection.

Yet with words and a raw courage that few of their neighbours have mustered, five sisters have done more to hasten the destruction of the Irish Republican Army than the combined might of the British and Irish Governments.

Following the IRA murder of their brother Robert McCartney in a Belfast pub on January 30, the sisters have fearlessly spoken out against the assailants.



http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12446626-38200,00.html

[marcologico]

1. Very sad story but it sounds more like a pub brawl than a hit. n/t

[11cents]

2. It was.

But because the killers were in the IRA, no one would speak up or identify them, even though there were apparently dozens of witnesses.

[Stella_Artois]

3. It wasn't an "official" operation

Nobody is claiming that it was.

The problem is that the people that did this are part of an organisation that considers itself above the law and its members not subject to the inconvience of the details of murder legislation.

[Bridget Burke]

4. Above the law? Not according to your source.

At the weekend, it showed the first signs of crumbling, expelling three of the central murder suspects, including the knifeman. Sinn Fein, the IRA's political arm, followed suit on Thursday night by suspending seven members also implicated in the murder.

It looks as though the criminals involved are NOT being protected. So this may NOT be the excuse so many want to
"discredit" Sinn Fein. But--is it more important to arrest killers or to cripple a political party that gets votes on both sides of the Border?



Edited to add: The sisters of the victim appeared at the recent Centenary of Sinn Fein. The appearance of Robert McCartney's sisters alongside Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness was undoubtedly a publicity coup for Sinn Fein.

The McCartney family still do not believe everything has been done that can be done to bring their brother's killers to justice.

But the newspaper images of the sisters at the Ard Fheis will confound those who portrayed their campaign as part of a "popular revolt" against the IRA.

Gerry Adams has accused his opponents of exploiting Robert McCartney's death.

Some of those opponents may have harboured hopes that the McCartney campaign, coming hard on the heels of the Northern Bank robbery, would halt Sinn Fein's electoral rise on both sides of the border.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/4324747.stm

[obreaslan]

5. Hi Bridget...

I agree, this sounds like another smear to discredit Sinn Fein. Look for more of these stories to pop up in the near future, I'm sure.

[Stella_Artois]

6. Yes, above the law

They know who did it, but will not turn them in to the authorities on either side of the border. Is Irish law not good enough for them ?

What sort of country do they want to build, where murderers are safe from prison ?