The sisters of Robert McCartney, the Belfast man allegedly murdered by members of the IRA, have said fear of the IRA was playing a bigger part in keeping witnesses silent in the case than any difficulties nationalists had with the PSNI, as had been cited by the Sinn Féin president, Mr Gerry Adams.
At Government Buildings in Dublin, after a meeting with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Ahern, Ms Paula McCartney said on behalf of her family: "People haven't come forward for probably a combination of things, but mostly because people are afraid, that is just the genuine truth. People are afraid of repercussions if they do come forward."
Ms McCartney said Mr Ahern had assured her and her four sisters - Catherine, Clare, Donna and Gemma - and her brother's partner, Bridgeen, of the Irish Government's support. They welcomed this.
"We feel that the meeting with the Irish Government has been of tremendous encouragement. And we feel closer now to resolving this matter. We wanted to know that we had the support of the Irish Government in our quest for justice and after meeting with them we now can go home contented in the knowledge that we know they are supporting us."
The family was considering organising a mass public meeting in Belfast's Short Strand. They would "for obvious reasons" not be supporting Sinn Féin again until their aims had been met to their satisfaction.
"A lot of people have expressed their disillusionment, their concern and they have said they won't be voting [ for Sinn Féin]," Ms McCartney said of people from Short Strand. Her family was not concerned that their brother's murder was being used by the Government to damage Sinn Féin politically, as Mr Adams claimed yesterday.
"Our family has only one concern and that is the capture and conviction of the murderers of our brother," Ms McCartney said.
Mr McCartney was beaten and fatally stabbed outside a Belfast pub on January 30th. His family believe he was killed by members of the IRA and that up to 70 witnesses are too afraid to come forward.
Mr Ahern insisted the Government was not seeking to use the family for political purposes. "I can understand why people might say with jaundiced eye that this is being used for a political purpose, I can assure you that from our point of view it is not."
The McCartneys were a brave family seeking justice for the murder of their brother "that in any normal society would bring a flood of outrage". Anybody with information which might assist the PSNI in its investigations should do the "patriotic thing" and come forward.
"What really is at issue here is the way in which the operation happened after the killing, in such a way as to ensure witnesses didn't come forward and also that any forensic evidence was disappeared.
"We will give [ the McCartneys] every co-operation in assisting them in that quest for justice and I said that just as [ Pat] Finucane and [ Rosemary] Nelson and other names, Garda Jerry McCabe, are on the agenda of Government. . . I have assured the family that the name of Robert McCartney will also be on our agenda in any of the discussions we will have with Sinn Féin and with the British government and others involved in this process."
Earlier Mr Adams had said some nationalists, including himself, had a problem with the PSNI. He said people who did not have such problems and had information on "this person's murder or killing or manslaughter or whatever it happens to be" should go to the PSNI. Those with information but who did not want to deal with the PSNI should approach individuals they could trust.
He also told RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland programme that the Government was trying to use Mr McCartney's murder and the campaign for justice being undertaken by his sisters "in a way against Sinn Féin and also around the whole issue of policing".
Following their meeting with Mr Ahern yesterday morning the McCartneys also met opposition politicians including the Greens, Labour Party and the leader of Sinn Féin in the Dáil, Mr Caoimhghin Ó Caoláin.
They family also met the Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, in Belfast last night.
