Robert McCartney, a father of two young sons, was a forklift operator and a bodybuilder, and at nights he worked as a doorman at a well-known nightspot. His sisters said he was a Sinn Fein voter and a gentle, soft-spoken man, but he was not inclined to back down when challenged. They said he had several run-ins with IRA people, including one man known here as a former IRA local commander.
On the night of Jan. 30, McCartney met two friends for drinks at Magennis's, located just across the Albert Bridge in the city center. A number of known republicans had gathered there as well, having just returned from a commemoration in the city of Derry to mark the 33rd anniversary of Bloody Sunday, in which 14 protesters were gunned down by the British soldiers.
From left, Catherine, Claire and Paula McCartney speak with reporters Feb. 16 after visiting the U.S. consul in Belfast. The sisters want the IRA to help bring to justice the members they say killed their brother Jan. 30 at a pub.
(Paul Mcerlane -- Reuters)
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The sisters said witnesses told them that Brendan Devine, one of McCartney's friends, became embroiled in a confrontation with the former commander over an alleged rude gesture to a girlfriend. "Do you know who I am?" the man bellowed at Devine.
The man signaled to one of his companions, who came up behind Devine and slit his throat. McCartney sought to shield Devine from further assaults and dragged his friend out to the sidewalk. Paula McCartney said her brother pleaded with Devine's attackers. "No one deserves this," she quoted him as saying.
More than a dozen men followed them outside, some armed with knives and metal sewer rods. Someone stabbed McCartney in the heart while others pounded his face and head. They left his body and that of Devine on the pavement.
Then a cleanup of the evidence began. Paula McCartney and her sisters said they have talked to witnesses who said the killers announced to customers after the fight, "This is IRA business." With professional skill, the men carried off the weapons and bloody clothing, wiped fingerprints clean, confiscated videotape from a security camera and warned bystanders, "No one is to say anything."
The IRA's account, released in its statement, is similar to that of the sisters, except it says an unnamed "senior republican" was also stabbed in the bar and was taken to a hospital.
Brendan Devine survived and has told the sisters he will testify if the case comes to trial. The other friend who was present maintains he saw nothing after the argument began. There were 70 people at the bar that night, Paula McCartney said, but their silence is deafening. She said the IRA men involved disappeared for a while, but were seen walking the streets of the Short Strand last week. Seven people were arrested, but all of them have been released.
"I live here and I know the mentality of the area," Paula McCartney said. The IRA leader's "very presence here is a threat. He doesn't have to say anything to anybody."
Still, the community made clear its anger and disapproval. More than 600 people turned out for a candlelight vigil and 1,000 mourners attended Robert McCartney's funeral.
"People always trusted the republican movement to be seen to be fair, but not now," said Willie Ward, a shopkeeper and community leader. "Everyone believes they're looking after their own interest first before that of the community. People no longer believe in them or trust them."
If republicans were involved in the killing, said Joe O'Donnell, the Sinn Fein city councilor for the area, they were acting as individuals, not as members of the movement, and they should turn themselves in.
The republican movement's ideology "certainly doesn't include people killing people in bars," he said.
At Geraldine's Shop, around the corner from O'Donnell's office, a flier headlined "MURDER" with McCartney's photo is taped to the plate-glass window. It asks potential witnesses to come forward and contact the police. But the bottom of the flier, which included the insignia of the police service and its phone numbers, has been neatly snipped off.
"Some people had a problem with that," O'Donnell said. "This seemed like the best way to handle it."
Hugh Orde, Northern Ireland's chief police constable, said at a news conference last week that his officers were vigorously pursuing the case. "What we've got to do is break the circle of fear" and persuade witnesses to come forward, Orde said. "It is a symbolic case for Northern Ireland."
Special correspondent Mary Fitzgerald contributed to this report.
