The five biggest political groups in the European Parliament have tabled a resolution expressing support for the family of Robert McCartney and condemning IRA violence and criminality.
The resolution, to be debated in Strasbourg next Monday, calls on the European Commission to offer financial aid to the McCartney family to pursue a civil action if the Police Service of Northern Ireland fails to bring charges in connection with Mr McCartney's killing.
The motion has the support of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) which includes Fine Gael MEPs; the Socialists, who include Labour's Proinsias De Rossa; the Liberals, who include the Independent Marian Harkin; the Union for a Europe of Nations (UEN) which includes Fianna Fáil MEPs; and the Greens. Between them, the groups backing the resolution account for 627 out of the total 732 MEPs.
A Sinn Féin spokesperson said the party's two MEPs had yet to decide their position before next week's debate. "Our full support for the McCartney family remains our guiding principle at this time," he added.
The European United Left (GUE), the political group to which Sinn Féin belongs, is considering tabling its own resolution on the McCartney killing. The resolution would call on those who witnessed any of the events surrounding the killing to come forward and provide information to the police or in any other form that will assist the prosecution of Robert McCartney's killers in a court of law.
The GUE resolution would not condemn the IRA or Sinn Féin, although it would acknowledge that IRA members are alleged to have been involved in the killing and note that seven Sinn Féin members were suspended in its aftermath.
The resolution tabled by the five biggest groups "calls on the leadership of Sinn Féin to insist that those responsible for the murder and witnesses to the murder co-operate directly with the Police Service of Northern Ireland and be free from the threat of reprisals from the IRA".
The motion also deplores "the insidious whispering campaign aimed at intimidating and discrediting the sisters and fiancée of Robert McCartney in their fight for justice". The resolution's strongest language is directed at the IRA, which is condemned for "violence and criminality" and for "an outrageous statement in which it said it 'was willing to shoot the killers of Robert McCartney'."
