Dáil passes motion condemning McCartney murder
The Dáil has passed a motion condemning the murder of Belfast man Robert McCartney and expressing solidarity with his family's campaign for justice.
Government and opposition parties all used the two-day debate on the Fine Gael motion to launch an attack on Sinn Féin.
Speaking last night, Justice Minister Michael McDowell reiterated his claim that the IRA and Sinn Féin were effectively the same organisation and said they had no respect for the laws of the Republic.
"The provisional movement is a single entity which terms itself the republican movement. It has a single leadership," he said.
"The entire movement, including Sinn Féin, regards that leadership as the authentic source of political legitimacy on this island.
"Its decisions are law, its murders are mere executions, its tortures are but punishments."
Responding, Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghin O'Caolain accused Mr McDowell and all the other political parties of using the McCartney murder to launch an unwarranted attack on the republican movement due to its growing electoral strength.
He said Sinn Féin, like the other parties, wanted justice for the McCartney family, but described the Dáil debate on the matter as "a cynical exploitation of this very serious issue for the narrowest of political motives".
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