McCartney family meet US senator
The family of Robert McCartney are meeting today with the US senator who snubbed Gerry Adams in Washington
Senator Edward Kennedy, a leading Irish-American figure, has cancelled a planned meeting with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams on Thursday due to the IRA’s “ongoing criminal activity”.
Mr McCartney’s sister Catherine said the six women were in Washington to dispel any “romantic vision” that Americans have about the IRA.
They blame the paramilitary organisation for the murder of 33-year-old Mr McCartney in a Belfast pub on January 30, and accuse Sinn Fein of covering up the crime.
“We are now dealing with criminal gangs who are using the cloak of romanticism around the IRA to murder people on the streets and walk away from it,” Catherine McCartney said.
“We are going to bring that reality home to Americans who have political and financial influence in Ireland.”
They are due to meet president George Bush at the White House on St Patrick’s Day tomorrow and plan to present him with a dossier on the events surrounding Mr McCartney’s murder.
The McCartneys’ visit has completely eclipsed that of Mr Adams, who has for the first time in years been denied a visit to the White House.
Back in Belfast, Martin McGuinness has challenged Northern Ireland’s top police officer to explain why an IRA suspect who offered to be questioned over the murder has not been arrested.
Sinn Fein’s chief negotiator claimed the man, one of three expelled from the IRA over the killing, was turned away by detectives.
“I publicly challenge [chief constable] Hugh Orde to explain the handling of this investigation and why charges have not been brought,” he said.
The mid Ulster MP added: “Their explanation that they are making arrangements to interview the suspect is astonishing.
“They have been raiding homes in Belfast looking for this man yet when he offers himself for interview they turn him away.”
