Irish sisters meet with Bush
Thursday, March 17, 2005
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The sisters of a Belfast man allegedly killed by IRA members met with the U.S. president at a St. Patrick's Day event.
President George W. Bush greeted the five sisters and fiancee of Robert McCartney, who was killed outside a Belfast bar on January 30, at a White House event Thursday that excluded Sinn Fein, the political arm of the IRA, for the first time since 1995. McCartney's family blames the IRA for their brother's death. They say the gang that attacked him included known IRA members.
Paula McCartney said Thursday morning the purpose of the meeting with Bush was to ask him to "bring all his influences to bear ... particularly on Sinn Fein, who we believe have the power to deliver the murderers up and to get justice for Robert." "If justice is delivered in our case then the people of Ireland are going to feel that the peace is not just going to be something signed on a piece of paper, that it's a reality on the streets," Catherine McCartney said. Their message to Bush, she said is that "justice for us is also justice for Ireland."
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush thanked the McCartney family for their courage and told them the United States would do whatever it can to help bring their brother's killers to justice. "I'm not sure what has been asked of us at this point, but we stand ready to assist in helping the parties move forward on a comprehensive peace agreement," McClellan said.
On Wednesday, the six women met with prominent U.S. senators who condemned the killing of the 33-year-old Roman Catholic forklift operator.
The Irish Republican Army has suspended a number of members over the killing and offered to shoot those it had found responsible.
That offer sparked outrage across the globe, and McCartney's sisters rejected it, saying they wanted those responsible brought to justice. To date, no one has come forward with evidence in the slaying, prompting some people in Northern Ireland to suspect the IRA intimidated witnesses into keeping quiet.
Sen. Edward Kennedy was among five politicians who told reporters after meeting the McCartneys they would stand with the sisters and learn more from them. "Today isn't just one meeting, but is going to be a continuum, until we are able to see justice and those who were a part of this cruel and murderous act are brought to justice," Kennedy said.
Kennedy said he believes Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams "wants to see the IRA disbanded" for the good of the stalled Northern Ireland peace process. Sinn Fein is a political party closely linked with the IRA. "There is a time to hold 'em and a time to fold 'em," the senator said. "And we're overdue in terms of the disbandment of the IRA."
Barring this breakup, he said, Sinn Fein must step away from the militant republican group. "A democratic party, a part of a democratic West, does not, should not and cannot have private armies and cannot be involved in criminality and violence," Kennedy said.
Public snub for Adams in U.S.
Adams also is visiting the United States this week in an attempt to soften the damage to his party's reputation caused by the killing and a $50 million bank robbery in December that British authorities blame on IRA members.
Adams is a member of the suspended Northern Ireland Assembly, the parliament created under the Good Friday Peace Accords in 1998. In February, the Irish government identified Adams as an IRA commander, an accusation that he has long denied.
Adams was not invited to meet Bush or Kennedy. The senator often has seen the Sinn Fein leader during previous St. Patrick's Day visits to the United States.
Kennedy said he does not believe Adams was involved in protecting the identity of McCartney's killers. But he called on Adams and Sinn Fein to "free themselves from the albatross of the IRA."
Adams said the public snub disappointed him but that he didn't feel it indicated U.S. support for the Northern Ireland peace process was waning. "I support the McCartney family. I support their demand for justice," Adams said Thursday. "I think that there is an onus upon everyone who can help, to help. So good luck to them. And when I go back home I will continue to work on their behalf."
As for being excluded from the annual Shamrock Ceremony,"All the Irish political parties were disinvited from the White House, not just Sinn Fein," Adams said. "And if I was to read that as a disengagement by this administration from the peace process, I would be concerned. But it isn't."
Adams has condemned McCartney's killing and blasted "rogue" members of the IRA. He said the perpetrators have tarnished the Irish republican movement and should be "man enough" to turn themselves in to authorities.
Sinn Fein has said that two of its election candidates were in the bar at the time of the killing, but both said they didn't see anything, according to The Associated Press.
CNN's Anne Castellani contributed to this report.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe...eys/index.html