Murder that festers in Belfast
JUSTICE WAS badly served in Belfast last month, an indication that the Irish Republican Army continues to hold a malevolent grip on segments of Northern Irish society.
Judge John Gillen had no choice but to acquit the man accused of murdering Robert McCartney in January 2005 outside a pub near the predominately Catholic Short Strand neighborhood. More than 70 people were in the pub when IRA stalwarts stabbed McCartney in a brawl that had nothing to do with politics. The only bystander to come forward had viewed the crime from a passing car, and her testimony was equivocal. Leaders of Sinn Fein, the IRA-affiliated political party, have called for more reliable witnesses to speak out, but more than three years after the murder, none has.
"The message is that the IRA has the capacity to do murder, cover it up, and intimidate people," Catherine McCartney, the victim's sister, said in an interview Thursday. Three years ago, the McCartney family lobbied the British, Irish, and US governments to pressure Sinn Fein to give up the assailants. Their campaign helped push the IRA to get rid of its weapons arsenal. This in turn encouraged the Democratic Unionist Party to join its arch foes in Sinn Fein in a provincial unity government. Yet, as demonstrated by the heavy silence in the Short Strand, a criminal gang with a political veneer retains significant influence in Northern Ireland.
Justice need not be thwarted. The law in Northern Ireland allows a re-prosecution of murder if new evidence is uncovered. Since the start of the Troubles in the 1970s, the British government has controlled policing in Northern Ireland. Sinn Fein wants it returned to provincial control, and needs Unionist support for the transfer. But a political party that abets a murder coverup cannot be trusted with any degree of power over the police.
Political leaders in London and Belfast shouldn't forget the McCartney murder. Other killings in Northern Ireland in recent years bear the mark of the IRA, but this one stands out for its brazenness and for the potential to build an airtight case if potential eyewitnesses come forward.
How about making Sinn Fein an offer it shouldn't refuse: Help the police find the McCartney killer to prove that the party is capable of law-enforcement oversight? Whatever happens, the Irish Republican Army won't be going away. Journalist Ed Moloney, who wrote "The Secret History of the IRA" in 2002, estimates it controls assets worth $400 million generated by illegal activities. But justice for the McCartney family would show that the IRA and its political agents have drawn the line at murder. 