Murdered Irishman's kin to tell Bush "true story"
WASHINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) - Six Northern Ireland women who challenged the Irish Republican Army over the murder of a Catholic man said on Tuesday they will tell U.S. President George W. Bush the "true story" of how the killers are eluding justice under the cloak of the IRA.
The five sisters and fiancee of the murdered man, Robert McCartney, arrived in Washington and will meet with Bush on Thursday at the annual St. Patrick's Day reception at the White House. McCartney, a 33-year-old forklift truck driver, was beaten and stabbed to death outside a bar in Belfast in January by a gang that included a number of IRA members.
His sister, Catherine McCartney, told reporters the family would tell Bush about her brother and their campaign to bring his killers to court. "The only thing that's stopping us getting the murderers brought to justice is secrecy, collusion and cover-up," she said. "And we're going to be raising that with the president an letting him know the true story."
She said her brother's killer's were accountable to no one and the romanticized version of the IRA battling against British rule in Northern Ireland is no longer real, McCartney said. "We're now dealing with criminal gangs who are still using the cloak of romanticism around the IRA to murder people on the streets and walk away with it," she said, adding that was the message they intend to take to Americans who have political and financial influence in Ireland.
The White House broke with long-standing policy of embracing Northern Ireland politicians and did not invite Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams to this year's St. Patrick's Day celebration. Adams was also snubbed by Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat who has been a strong Sinn Fein supporter.
Sinn Fein is the political ally of the IRA, which declared a cease-fire in 1997.
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03/15/05 23:05