[Article]Shinners talk balls

MT

www.PortadownNews.com

LOL, hilarious

Thought the bit about Radio Ulster with McGuinnes and Danny Morrison using weasel words to discredit the McCartneys was particularly good satire. It says something about current journalism standards when it takes a publication such as this to maintain the focus on Sinn Féin's duplicity in dealing with the McCartney sisters campaign for justice. Or maybe the Irish Times et al concur with the Republican Movement's whispering campaign that these inconvient women have an anti-republican agenda? I imagine its only a matter of weeks before the term treachery surfaces in certain circles.

In case anyone needs a reminder it'll soon be two months since Robert McCartney's murder and still no one's been charged. So much for 'truth and justice'.

MT

More on Sinn Féin's duplicity in this affair and their attempts to discredit the courageous McCartney sisters:



The sisters are coming home… and Sinn Fein is planning its revenge

By Jenny McCartney - No relation

Behind its forced smiles and strained professions of concern, the Sinn Fein leadership has always been furious at the McCartney sisters for daring to protest about the murder of their brother, Robert, by IRA men in a Belfast bar. Since last week, however, it has made an increasingly bad job of concealing its rage.

While the five McCartney sisters and Mr McCartney's fiancée, Bridgeen Hagans, were being welcomed by President Bush in the White House on St Patrick's Day, Gerry Adams - formally exiled from the Washington A-list - was glumly touring the dwindling number of US Friends of Sinn Fein. Even Senator Ted Kennedy cancelled his meeting with Adams: the Senator had an important subsequent engagement… with the McCartney sisters.

Sinn Fein wants the sisters to disappear, and it has already tried hard to make that happen. Even the IRA, however, realised that its most obvious strategy - that of terrorising the women and their families into silence - might backfire horribly. So instead it offered a compromise: that it would shoot four of the IRA men involved in the McCartney murder.

After the sisters declined this offer of bloodletting, Gerry Adams tried to schmooze them into silence. He invited them to the Sinn Fein annual general meeting, with a special front row seat right next to him. And yet the McCartneys, although staunch republicans all, still refused to melt wholly into the smothering Sinn Fein embrace. The women remained stubbornly bent on pursuing the trial and conviction of their brother's IRA killers.

At that, Martin McGuinness's tone changed. He warned that "the McCartneys need to be very careful" that they didn't "step over the line into the world of party politics", which would "dismay and disillusion an awful lot of people". I'll translate that. It means: "Shut up while you're still ahead, if you know what's good for you, and leave the talking to us."

The McCartneys, of course, are not affiliated to any political party, and their financial resources are minuscule, especially when compared to Sinn Fein's overflowing coffers. Yet what they are doing is certainly political in the most basic sense of challenging an established, overweening power: in this case, the IRA's stranglehold over the people in working-class Catholic areas of Belfast.

Adams and McGuinness have indeed called for witnesses to Mr McCartney's murder in Magennis's Bar to approach a solicitor with information. But they don't repeat publicly the rider which is certainly added in private: "…and make sure you tell them nothing."

This is the account that Cora Groogan, a young Sinn Fein candidate, gave of her evening in Magennis's Bar on the night Mr McCartney died: "I got to the bar about 10pm that Sunday. I was there for a short while. There was a commotion in the bar but I witnessed nothing and left shortly after 11pm."

What exactly was this "commotion" which barely caused Miss Groogan to look up from her drink before concluding that all was well with the world? It was the noise of an intense argument followed by the sound of Brendan Devine, Robert McCartney's friend, being held down by IRA men who then cut his throat.

Shortly after, the men set upon Mr McCartney, a bodybuilder, and battered and stabbed him to death on the street immediately outside the bar. There would have been terrible yelling, and an ocean of blood, not to mention the extensive IRA clean-up operation afterwards. Hard to miss, you might think, but maybe Ms Groogan's favourite song was playing on the jukebox and she got distracted.

The same thing must have happened to Deirdre Hargey, an aspiring Sinn Fein councillor, who was also present but similarly didn't see "the fracas in the bar, or the incident outside the bar". In fact, all of the 70 people who were in the bar claim to have witnessed nothing: most say they were in the lavatories. Is it any wonder that Paula McCartney has concluded that the whole thing "stinks of a cover-up"?

The coming months back in Belfast will be hard and bitter for the McCartney sisters and Miss Hagans. They will be subjected to the full force of Sinn Fein's PR machine, which will attempt to smear them and their motivations.

That machine could already be heard cranking up last week, with aggrieved "republican critics" calling Belfast radio stations to observe - in tones drenched in suspicion - that "one of the sisters actually studies politics at Queen's University, she knows what she's doing". Another alleged that "a republican family wouldn't be in America today trying to destroy the republican movement": in other words, if you're a republican who is abused by the IRA you had better not go to the authorities, otherwise people will start hinting that you're a closet Unionist.

This is all pretty predictable stuff, but it is still depressing to hear those who should know better joining in. On Radio 4's Today programme last week, the film director Ken Loach - who can deliver such moving dramas about downtrodden Mexican women in America - somehow couldn't bring himself to give even a brief pat on the back to six working-class Catholic women who have displayed tremendous courage.

He argued that the story's prominence was simply an example of "how the news is spun" and complained that many Catholics murdered by loyalists never received such publicity.

No, and nor did many Protestants murdered by the IRA. And nor did many Protestants murdered by loyalists. And nor did many other Catholics murdered by the IRA. But the point is that this McCartney campaign is now acting as an inspiration to everyone - Catholic or Protestant - who believes that the IRA and the loyalist paramilitaries should not have the right to act as executioners and enforcers in working-class areas.

In 1998, an IRA gang murdered a 33-year-old Catholic man called Andrew Kearney. I remember meeting his mother Maureen, a life-long republican who had begun a spirited campaign against her son's IRA killers. In the absence of any other redress, she asked Sinn Fein to pay for his funeral. Eventually, Gerry Adams visited her house and told her to leave the matter in his hands: he promised to return in three weeks, she said, after a trip to America. He never came back.

In August 1999, Mrs Kearney died: the priest at her funeral said it was of a broken heart. Sometimes justice arrives too late, or not at all. But the McCartneys have already changed Northern Ireland, simply by demanding it.

Daily Telegraph (Filed: 20/03/2005)

Sleepy

How long can the sisters keep the pressure up for though? Sure, they're hot news now but as long as Sinn Fein/IRA manage to prevent people from coming forward the story becomes colder and colder. Give it another month and they'll be relegated to page 12 news, the month after that, page 15 and eventually the journalists won't be interested any more and there'll have been another "glorious" victory for the Sinn Fein spin doctors.

Lemming

Sleepy wrote:

How long can the sisters keep the pressure up for though? Sure, they're hot news now but as long as Sinn Fein/IRA manage to prevent people from coming forward the story becomes colder and colder. Give it another month and they'll be relegated to page 12 news, the month after that, page 15 and eventually the journalists won't be interested any more and there'll have been another "glorious" victory for the Sinn Fein spin doctors.

Sadly that would appear to be the game that SF/IRA are playing. They wont even spin it as a glorious victory rather than quietly forget it and threaten the knee-caps of anyone who ever mentions the surname "McCartney"

AmenToThat

What we have here by the SF bashers on this board is yet another thread discussing the same topic.
No new evidence is presented in this thread and it is simply a repackaging of the same agrument.

It (the argument against SF) like the SF bashers themselves are all starting to become very boring and repetitive and adding nothing new to the overall debate.

AmenToThat

AmenToThat wrote:

It (the argument against SF) like the SF bashers themselves are all starting to become very boring and repetitive and adding nothing new to the overall debate.

It's a pity then a few people wouldn't add something new and cheerfull to the McCartney sisters lives like a few sworn affadavits detailing who murdered their brother...
The only one or thing that I can see(and I know, theres a thread on it around here somewhere) bashing Sinn Féin are actually the IRA.
They could call it a day,fade into the history books and let politics flourish instead.

monument

Earthman wrote:

It's a pity then a few people wouldn't add something new and cheerfull to the McCartney sisters lives like a few sworn affadavits detailing who murdered their brother....

Have the people who were with Mr McCartney done so?

monument

monument wrote:

Have the people who were with Mr McCartney done so?

And thats related to what I said there how exactly?

Cork

I hope that more will learn from the McCartneys example and stand up to the likes of SF/IRA.

Intimidation of witnesses is still going on. This is an absolute disgrace.

I feel the McCartneys deserve justice. If they had a choice - they would be grieving for the brother.

Martin McGuinness's tone changed. He warned that "the McCartneys need to be very careful" that they didn't "step over the line into the world of party politics"


Ignore SF/IRA propaganda.

monument

Earthman wrote:

And thats related to what I said there how exactly?

To clarify - Have the people who were with Mr McCartney made a 'few sworn affidavits detailing who murdered' Mr McCartney?

You said it would "add something new and cheerful to the McCartney sisters lives", I'm just wondering if anybody knows if the people with Mr McCartney on the night of his murder have made statements detailing who murdered him, or at least who was in the fight in the pub or who dragged him out of the pub etc.

ReefBreak

AmenToThat wrote:

What we have here by the SF bashers on this board is yet another thread discussing the same topic.
No new evidence is presented in this thread and it is simply a repackaging of the same agrument.

It (the argument against SF) like the SF bashers themselves are all starting to become very boring and repetitive and adding nothing new to the overall debate.

Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic from AmenToThat. Read the article again. What exactly were the two Shinner women doing when those two men were being butchered? They must be very easily distracted if they didn't see the events that occured that night.

And yes, I'm a Sinn Féin(/IRA)-basher and proud of it - they're nothing but robbers, liars, thieves, murderers and terrorists, and deserve nothing but contempt.

billy the squid

AmenToThat wrote:

What we have here by the SF bashers on this board is yet another thread discussing the same topic.
No new evidence is presented in this thread and it is simply a repackaging of the same agrument.

It (the argument against SF) like the SF bashers themselves are all starting to become very boring and repetitive and adding nothing new to the overall debate.

then lets here the sinn fein people who were in the pub add something. better to be repetative and boring than to be silent I say.

from here:

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=137468084&p=y3746879x

But so far only three Sinn Féin representatives and a fourth, unidentified witness have provided accounts on the January 30 brawl which have been passed from their solicitors to the Ombudsman.

Party election candidates Cora Groogan and Deirdre Hargey, along with former Belfast councillor Sean Hayes have given statements.
...

But the sisters were astonished by Ms Groogan‘s version, claiming she has not supplied vital information.

They claimed a taxi driver who took her to another bar in the city heard her describe events in Magennis’s over the phone.

might be a good idea for the PSNI to get a court order issued to access Cora Groogan's phone records to find out who she was chatting to, and would be a good idea to get a statement from this taxi driver.

It is my belief that Cora Groogan has the ability to say what really happened in the pub but is deciding not to, If sinn fein want to come out of this looking good then it is not enough for their members who were in the pub to come forward, but for them to come forward and tell the truth, instead of "oh sorry I was in the tardis, sorry toilet at the time."

I also think that another trip to america is in order, the IIRA supporters in the US need that tiocfaith ar La" bubble burst. The IRA that they dream about and give money to are in reality gangsters.

mycroft

monument wrote:

To clarify - Have the people who were with Mr McCartney made a 'few sworn affidavits detailing who murdered' Mr McCartney?

You said it would "add something new and cheerful to the McCartney sisters lives", I'm just wondering if anybody knows if the people with Mr McCartney on the night of his murder have made statements detailing who murdered him, or at least who was in the fight in the pub or who dragged him out of the pub etc.

Mc carthy was with a friend, who was beaten and lost alot of blood, he gets a lil leeway, again its not beyond the realm of reason he was unconscious when the murder occured. I'm kind of staggered by the SFers going "yeah welll wheres his mates when his mate was on the recieving of a brutal beating, whats the three sf candiates excuse.. I defy you to belief the we noticed a commotion but ignored it excuse. I've seen more than one pub brawl, and it's captivating. A SF councillor, or three not noticing a pub brawl in a moderate sized pub, with the brawl being filled with IRA men, and one man eventually getting beaten with Iron bars n then gutted, it beggars belief.

AmenToThat

ReefBreak wrote:

Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic from AmenToThat. Read the article again. What exactly were the two Shinner women doing when those two men were being butchered? They must be very easily distracted if they didn't see the events that occured that night.

And yes, I'm a Sinn Féin(/IRA)-basher and proud of it - they're nothing but robbers, liars, thieves, murderers and terrorists, and deserve nothing but contempt.

My comments may well be pathetic compared to your 'enlightened' approach to the subject ReefBreak but your comments and this thread and indeed in general regarding Republicanism add nothing contructive to the debate and thats the bottom line.
If you had new information or a new thesis regarding the subject, (Republicanism, SF or the IRA) I would be only to glad to listen to your arguments but that is not the case.
Its simply the same hate regurgitated in a different form topic after topic and is quiet frankly becomming boring at this stage.

BTW while you obviously get some sort of gratification out of the hate you continuously release on this forum your comments and indeed the comments of certain other contributers regarding Republicans over the last few weeks have shown you to be bigots and a fascists, imho.
The very things you proclaim to hold in contempt.

AmenToThat

Earthman wrote:

They could call it a day,fade into the history books and let politics flourish instead.

They could, and I hope that day isnt to far away but while the pressures is on from the media and the politicians any disbandment would be made to look like a defeat or be painted as such by the press.
Those are the conditions now and given those conditions theres more chance of Ian Paisley playing Hurling for Co. Antrim than the IRA going away in the present political climate.

billy the squid

The reason there has been nothing added to this whole seriews of events is because sinn fein, whos court the ball is firmly lodged, are neither comming forward with everything they know, nor are they getting others to come forward with everything they know.

telling people to go to priest/solicotor/ombudsman is just a political stunt, and a lame one at that.

The sinn fein leadership, and its cronies know that the only way these murderers can be brought to propper justice is if witnesses go to the PSNI and tell them EVERYTHING they say.

I also think Cora Groody has done herself great damage by making a statement that she saw nothing. I wonder if the PSNI have questioned the taxi driver yet. of course he will more than likely tell them that he heard nothing.

people in the pub going to the mccartneys and priests and solicitors telling them what they saw is not going to accomplish anything. Its is time for the sinn fein leadership to either **** or get off the pot on the issue of whether or not they really want to see these killers locked up or not. the longer they play this political game of theirs the more damage they are going to do to themselves.

I think seeing thread after thread about this case might spur some of the sinn fein supporters on these boards to write to their favorite sinn fein politician and get them to encourage their people to be open and honest with the PSNI. the problem with sinn fein is that they are still stuck in bloody sunday and it is only the grass roots supporters who will be able to force them to move on into the present.

MT

AmenToThat wrote:

They could, and I hope that day isnt to far away but while the pressures is on from the media and the politicians any disbandment would be made to look like a defeat or be painted as such by the press.

Then Sinn Féin shouldn't have went into politics then. In a democracy with a free press public scrutiny and media focus come with the territory. Now that SF holds seats north and south and may participate in future administrations they can expect no less attention from the press than any other political party. I mean, really, SF supporters complaining about media pressure are like sailors complaining about waves. If they can't take the heat then they can always withdraw their candidates from future elections. The time of fudge is over. In a liberal democracy political parties attached to private armies actively involved in murder, intimidation, protection rackets etc. will of course be pilloried by the media, not to mention concerned voters. Anyone with the interests of democracy in mind would surely have been given far more cause for concern had the Republican Movement's recent anti-democratic actions not been given insightful scrutiny by the press. Recent events have shattered the 'constructive ambiguities' consesus of the 'power... I mean, 'peace process'. Look where such media silence has left us - saddled with a seemingly all pervasive criminal conspiracy, murder coverups and so on.

No, the days of media silence are long over. And considering that the pressure is likely to continue for as long as the Republican Movement's criminality persists...

AmenToThat wrote:

Those are the conditions now and given those conditions theres more chance of Ian Paisley playing Hurling for Co. Antrim than the IRA going away in the present political climate.

Does the above contain an implicit threat that the media had better lay off or the 'Ra will continue the shooting, the stealing and the murdering?

If so, I can add another anti-democratic tenet to the list of warped beliefs possessed by the Republican Movement. They're opposed to universally recognised standards of justice, they accent to the suppression of the truth, they're against fair and impartial policing, they don't believe in equality before the law (one standard for IRA men, another for the rest of us) and now it seems there's a hostility to free speech and a free press. Witness the growing animosity to the McCartney's attempts to speak out. And now to paraphrase AmenToThat - silence the free press or Sinn Féin and their gun toting, knife weilding cohorts in the IRA will continue to subvert democracy.

Can you imagine if the British government had used a similar excuse to call off the Bloody Sunday inquiry. 'Sorry folks there's been too much media pressure over this whole investigation so we're no longer playing ball. We won't continue the inquiry until papers agree to a coverage black out'.

This thread highlights yet another example of how when pressed hard enough certain Sinn Féin apologists are unable to resist exposing their contempt for the norms of a democratic society. Will the press be barred from junta... I mean governmental scrutiny in SF's future 32 county Marxist state?

MT

Lemming wrote:

Sadly that would appear to be the game that SF/IRA are playing. They wont even spin it as a glorious victory rather than quietly forget it and threaten the knee-caps of anyone who ever mentions the surname "McCartney"

That maybe true in the areas of the north labouring under the control of Sinn Féin and the IRA but in the parts of Ireland where people are still free to voice their opinions the McCartney name will hopefully never be forgotten.

I think there is an onus on the democrats in Ireland to ensure that Robert McCartney did not die in vain. That from this barbaric murder a glimmer of light may emerge. The Republican Movement may have taken his life and denied his family justice but if nothing else this death should stand as a chilling reminder to the hypocrisy at the heart of the Sinn Féin project. In future, whenever the spiel about 'truth and justice' is preached by the party and its apologists let one name cut down the lies and expose tyranny. This legacy, I think, might offer some consolation to a family cruelling robbed of its loved one while in the prime of his life.

For that matter, maybe the two governments could chip in and create a fund for justice to aid the brave sisters campaign. It could disburse financial support to all those berieved struggling to hold paramilitary brutality to account. Does the 'Robert McCartney fund for truth and justice' have a ring to it?

BuffyBot

They could, and I hope that day isnt to far away but while the pressures is on from the media and the politicians any disbandment would be made to look like a defeat or be painted as such by the press

You can't help but wonder when that excuse is going to wear out completely. In reality, you could hold that line forever and ever, amen...

Lemming

AmenToThat wrote:

My comments may well be pathetic compared to your 'enlightened' approach to the subject ReefBreak

You're right. They are.

but your comments and this thread and indeed in general regarding Republicanism add nothing contructive to the debate and thats the bottom line.

Oddly enough, the current "flavour" of republicanism hasn't got much constructive to contribute itself now does it?

If you had new information or a new thesis regarding the subject, (Republicanism, SF or the IRA) I would be only to glad to listen to your arguments but that is not the case.

You've not been "glad to listen to arguments" in the past. Would it be right to insert a "if they conform to SF/IRA party lines" to the end of that? As for new information on the matter, that particular ball is firmly in SF/IRA's posession and they don't want to seem to play well with others. So I find your remarks somewhat rank with hypocrasy.

Its simply the same hate regurgitated in a different form topic after topic and is quiet frankly becomming boring at this stage.

As opposed to "Up the Ra!! Brits out" or "Britain is a disease and must be eradicated from this island and if you speak english then you are a traitor" eh?

Yeah .... That's never boring now is it? :rolleyes:

your comments and indeed the comments of certain other contributers regarding Republicans over the last few weeks have shown you to be bigots and a fascists, imho.

Bigots eh? Facists eh?

To quote the late husband of Margaret Thatcher (Denis I believe?):

"Better to be keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than open your mouth and be proven one"

Go look up the definition of both "bigot" & "Facist" in the dictionary since it's fairly obvious that you haven't a clue what either means. I would also suggest a look in the direction of your SF/IRA 'brethern' next time you speak those words.

MT

The coward(s) obviously delivered it when the sisters were out of the country:

HATE MAIL TO SISTERS

By Vanessa Allen


THE McCartney sisters have received a death threat over their campaign for justice for their murdered brother Robert.

The hate mail claimed to be from the IRA and warned they were "on a hit list".

The note was waiting among congratulatory messages when they returned to Belfast after meeting President Bush in the US.

The letter, unsigned and written in poor English, said: "You all are on a hit list now and you will all die in time. You do not go to USA and make me look like scum."

It claimed IRA chiefs had sanctioned the threats and ended: "Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha."

Paula McCartney's husband, Jim Arnold, said of the note: "It's sick."

Daily Mirror (Mar 22 2005)

More from Angelique Chrisafis writing in todays Guardian:

...the sisters of Robert McCartney who was murdered by IRA members outside a Belfast bar have received hate mail in response to their campaign to see his killers brought to trial.

It emerged last night that excrement and a letter threatening to stab the sisters had been sent to Paula McCartney's home in the Catholic enclave of Short Strand in Belfast while the McCartneys had been in Washington meeting President Bush.

The handwritten letter which claimed to be from the IRA and Sinn Féin, told the sisters: "You will all die in time," adding they were on a hit list and would not be shot but knifed.

Enclosed with the letter was a photograph of the sisters, which had been smeared with excrement.

Claire McCartney, who opened the letter, said she was angered and disgusted.

I've no doubt that had it not been for the recent media interest in their campaign for justice the McCartney sisters would long ago have been silenced with threats of extreme violence from the IRA. However, I don't believe the organisation would so bone headed as to do so now. The family only escaped the intimidation metted out to other relatives who dared to speak out because the press decided for once not to turn a blind eye to the Republican Movement's 'indescretions'. Had the 'constructive ambiguity' of past years continued into 2005 Sinn Féin would no doubt have gotten away with blaming bigotry in the PSNI for happering the investigation while their chums in the armed wing bullied the family into quiescent silence. The press would have looked the other way while ringing their hands and making pained noises about the need to move forward to a future of peace and justice. Isn't it strange how times change?

Having said all this, you have to stop and wonder for a moment about what sort of reprobates would have thought out and delivered such a vile warning. I just wonder what political party might benefit from their votes come the election a month from now? Might it be one stuggling for 'truth and justice'?

No doubt there are some in the Republican Movement who are now applauding these brave fellows for taking on the McCartney traitors. After all, as they'll tell themselves while down the pub listening to the Wolfe Tones, '...that shíte was shoved through the sister's letterbox to further the cause of Irish freedom. Don't those bastard women realise that the only way there'll ever be justice for the Irish people is by supporting the IRA's glorious armed struggle. What right have they to criticise the lads who've fought for the cause. It's only the evil Brits that murder innocent Irishmen.'

MT

Right on que from the party's youth wing - and if I were being suspicious, conviently timed to coincide with the death threat - the sisters are censured:

Family dismiss Ogra SF letter allegations

Darran McCann

The sisters of Robert McCartney have dismissed a letter from Sinn Féin's youth wing claiming they should be thankful to the IRA for having done "all that is in their power" to get justice for him.

The letter to The Irish News, signed Pierce Gormley, Ogra Shinn Féin, also claims the sisters have "seemingly turned the tragic death of their brother into a political showcase, instead of seeking justice for their brother".

Mr McCartney's family last night (Sunday) insisted that it was republicans who were damaging their own cause by failing to do anything to allow them achieve justice.

The letter had said: "The true face of the McCartney sisters seems to have come to the surface; their campaign has turned political.

"They state that they are at war with the IRA. The IRA did not order or sanction the murder of their brother.

"(The IRA) have done all that is in their power to try and get justice for Robert McCartney, and instead of thanking the movement for their efforts, they have used the death of their brother as a stick to politically beat Sinn Féin and also they have given a weapon to the enemies of the nationalist communities in the six counties, to prevent equality, justice and independence."

It added that the McCartneys should now "live up to their responsibilities and seek justice for their brother, not allow themselves and the tragic death of their brother to be used as a political football".

However, Gemma McCart-ney rejected the letter, saying: "These comments are to be expected."

"Eighty or 90% of the people in the bar that night were Sinn Féin or IRA members, which is why the whole thing has proven so difficult to resolve," she said.

"We are not the ones beating the republican movement with a big stick. It is these individual members who are refusing to come forward – despite their leader's command – who are dragging down the name of the republican movement.

"There have been no witnesses who have gone to the police. If anybody has made this a political football it is the people who were in the bar at that time. These are people who are potentially going to be government ministers in a few years."

Meanwhile, Ms McCartney also said she had learned that former Sinn Féin candidate Cora Groogan, who revealed last weekend that she had been in Magennis's bar on the night of the murder, had attended a rally in Short Strand calling for witnesses to come forward.

Irish News March 22, 2005

I think this paragraph simply has to be repeated (I've highlighted what must stand as one of the most arrogant and hypocritical comments ever made in Irish politics):

"(The IRA) have done all that is in their power to try and get justice for Robert McCartney, and instead of thanking the movement for their efforts, they have used the death of their brother as a stick to politically beat Sinn Féin and also they have given a weapon to the enemies of the nationalist communities in the six counties, to prevent equality, justice and independence."

So there you have it. Straight from the movement itself, the version that will soon become the official and only acceptable account of this affair in Republican areas throughout the north. The IRA seemingly didn't do anything to harm Robert McCartney - it would be interesting to know here if the members of Ogra Sinn Féin actually believe the man's dead, or is this all a lie orchestrated by British dirty tricks. No, instead the peace loving souls have merely been struggling to attain McCartney some good old Republican justice. For taking on this heavy burden the IRA deserves the thanks of these ungrateful sisters. I mean with the amount of complaining they've done you'd think the IRA had killed the man, er... wait a minute.

Finally, in one of the sickest of metaphors the 'truth and justice' lovin' youth wing accuse the sisters of using their dead brother as a stick to beat Sinn Féin with. Its not as if their own armed wing did anything as barbaric as beat and slice the poor bloke to death. But of course, iron bars aren't sticks, you know... that's only Brit propaganda.

Finally, the coup de grace. In time honoured fashion, like countless other uppity berieved relatives, the McCartneys are accused of treachery to the nationalist community. 'Can't you see folks, in trying to bring the killers of their brother to justice these women are preventing equality, justice and independence.' Ah, now I understand - the IRA are yet again the good guys, Robert McCartney simply vanished, but the IRA have struggled to attain him justice for for some reason, his bastard sisters are traitors attempting to prevent justice and oppress the nationalist people and I've suddenly become a Dutchman.

Honestly, you couldn't make it up. Where's George Orwell and Monty Python when you need them?

If this party propaganda and rewriting of the truth wasn't so disgusting it'd almost be humourous. Sadly, however, there'll be no more laughter from Robert McCartney.

ReefBreak

Well said MT. The level that Ogra Sinn Féin have slipped to here is jaw-droppingly low.

Lemming

Y'know ... Ogra Sinn Fein seem to be speaking very well on behalf of the IRA. A little too well.

Makes you wonder (yet again) just how seperate these *ahem* two *ahem* "organisations" actually are....

Mercury_Tilt

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oscarBravo

Mercury_Tilt wrote:

This post has been deleted.

You will, of course, be providing evidence to back up that assertion?

Mercury_Tilt

This post has been deleted.

mycroft

oscarBravo wrote:

You will, of course, be providing evidence to back up that assertion?

Mercury Tilt wrote:

If it had not been IRA mambers involved in the killing... the sisters would have gladly used them to help get "justice"

Exactly seeing as the offer of repubican violence was out there, your comment is profoundly ignorant, teh family rejected the offer of violence to ensure justice.

Your contemptaible lack of information exposes your bias.

Mercury_Tilt

This post has been deleted.

mycroft

Mercury_Tilt wrote:

This post has been deleted.

and they were offered a level of paramiltary violence by the IRA. A murder or killing which would have been executed without repremand by the IRA. Your alledged hypothetical evidence is just based on subposition you've no supporting information to prove your point of view.

mycroft

Mercury_Tilt wrote:

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The family were offered paramiltary revenge they rejected it.

Suggesting they'd have acted differently is a theory, and a theory that can be rejected if they reject summary IRA violence and suggesting .

The family had a clear n specific offer of violence aganist roberts murders. They rejected it. What am I missing?

they would most likely have been happy for IRA help..

Is a fecking joke. WHAT. IS. YOUR. PoINT.