IRA offers to execute murder suspects – ISN
March 9th, 2005
DERRY – In a bizarre twist to the McCartney murder saga, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) late on Tuesday offered to shoot those it believes killed the 33-year-old Belfast man on 31 January.
In a lengthy statement, the organization said that it had conducted its own internal investigation into the killing. It concluded that four men, two of whom were IRA members, bore greatest responsibility, and offered to execute these alleged perpetrators.
McCartney’s family immediately distanced themselves from the statement, saying that they wanted justice for their brother via the court system. (more…)
Sinn Féin conference overshadowed by murder – ISN
March 7th, 2005
DERRY – Sinn Féin, the political party linked to the Irish Republican Army (IRA), on Friday suspended seven of its members for their alleged involvement in the murder of Belfast Catholic Robert McCartney.
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams said those suspended were named by McCartney’s family as having been involved in the murder. McCartney’s sisters appeared to a standing ovation at the Sinn Féin annual conference in Dublin over the weekend.
The conference, which ordinarily would have celebrated the centenary of the founding of the party, was overshadowed by the fallout from McCartney’s violent death in Belfast on 31 January and the alleged theft by the IRA of some €38 million from a Belfast bank in December. (more…)
Secrecy shrouds arrest of IRA murder suspect – ISN
March 2nd, 2005
DERRY – Northern Ireland police arrested a 29-year-old man was arrested in Belfast on Tuesday in connection with the murder of Robert McCartney. The suspect handed himself in to police in the company of a solicitor, but was released early on Wednesday without charges.
The man, whose name has not been released, was not one of the three expelled last Friday by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) on suspicion of their involvement in the McCartney murder. It is believed that 12-15 men were involved in the killing. Earlier on Tuesday, Hugh Orde, head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), said all three men dismissed from the IRA had left the country. However, the PSNI later retracted that statement.
McCartney died outside a Belfast bar on 31 January, after getting involved in a dispute with a group of local IRA men. (more…)
IRA expels 3 murder suspects – ISN
February 28th, 2005
DERRY – The Provisional IRA expelled three of its members suspected of involvement in the brutal 31 January killing of Robert McCartney outside a pub in east Belfast. Another fourth man was arrested after handing himself in to the police, and was later released without charges.
In a lengthy statement issued on Friday night, the IRA conceded that “some Republicans” had been involved in the murder, and that “any intimidation or threats in the name of the IRA to any person who wishes to help the McCartney family will not be tolerated”. (more…)
London maintains SF sanctions – ISN
February 23rd, 2005
Simon Roughneen in Derry
N.Ireland Secretary of State Paul Murphy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday that he would extend sanctions against Sinn Féin, the political party linked to the Irish Republican Army (IRA), for a year. Murphy said Sinn Féin’s Northern Ireland Assembly grant, worth some £120’000 (about €173’000), would be suspended for an additional 12 months. The decision comes in the wake of the latest report from the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) accusing the IRA of being behind the theft of €38 million from a Belfast bank in December. (more…)
More cash found in IRA laundering probe – ISN
February 21st, 2005
- links to Bulgarian mafia groups examined
DERRY – Police in the Irish Republic recovered €634’000 in British sterling notes on Sunday night in a series of raids in the south, the midlands, and Dublin areas of the country. These are the latest discoveries in an ongoing investigation into money laundering by the Irish Republican Army (IRA).
Tests are being carried out to determine whether any of the cash is part of the €38 million taken from a Belfast bank on 20 December. The Irish and British governments claim that the IRA stole the money. Each raid uncovers a series of new money trails, and it is believed that the current operation will go on for months. (more…)
Seven held in IRA laundering probe – ISN
February 18th, 2005
DERRY – Police in the Irish Republic have arrested seven people as part of an investigation into Irish Republican Army (IRA) money-laundering.
Euro and sterling notes worth a total of €3.6 million were seized in Dublin and Cork, and further police raids were ongoing areas in the midlands and east of the country. One single raid on Thursday morning recovered £2 million (nearly €2.9 million) from a house in rural Cork. Senior detectives from Northern Ireland’s police were in Dublin on Friday for a special security summit with their counterparts in the Republic.
Police believe that some or all of the cash was part of the €38 million taken in the Northern Bank robbery committed in Belfast in late December. It has been confirmed that Northern Bank notes make up some of the cash seized. The robbery was generally attributed to the IRA, and one of those arrested in Cork was a Sinn Féin candidate in the Irish general election in 2002. (more…)
Sinn Féin leader dares govt to arrest him – ISN
February 11th, 2005
DERRY – The Independent Monitoring Commission set up by the Irish and British governments released a report on Thursday, saying that senior Sinn Féin members had advance knowledge of the theft, allegedly by the IRA, of some €31 million from a Belfast bank in December.
Sinn Féin is said to be the political wing of the Irish Republican Army. Both governments have endorsed the findings. In Dublin, Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell said some of the politicians implicated in the report were household names, but the report did not name anyone directly.
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams responded by challenging the Irish government to either have him arrested or cease what he termed “unsubstantiated allegations”. (more…)
Irishman faces Omagh bomb charges – ISN
February 9th, 2005
DERRY – A 34-year-old man from the Irish Republic will appear in court on Wednesday to faces charges that he provided the getaway car used in the August 1998 Omagh bombing that killed 29 people and injured hundreds of others. It was the single greatest loss of life in Northern Ireland’s 30-year conflict.
No one has been convicted in connection with the bombing. Last month, the Dublin Supreme Court overturned one of the suspects’ convictions, and he is now awaiting a retrial. (more…)
IRA withdraws offer to disarm – ISN
February 3rd, 2005
- spins ‘return to war’ rumours
DERRY- The Irish Republican Army (IRA) announced on Thursday that it would withdraw the offer to allow its weapons to be destroyed and to end activities that might endanger the 1998 peace agreement. “We are taking our proposals off the table,” the group in a statement issued through the IRA newspaper, An Phoblacht.
The announcement follows weeks of turmoil after a power-sharing deal offered by the British and Irish governments in December fell through due to disagreement over how to verify the destruction of IRA weaponry. The crisis deepened with the December robbery of a Belfast bank, in which €31.3 million was stolen. Both governments, backed by police and intelligence experts, have stated publicly that they believe the IRA carried out the raid. (more…)
