Ahern to raise man's murder with Adams
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is to raise the Dublin murder of Joseph Rafferty with Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams at their next meeting, it emerged today.
Mr Rafferty’s family claim the father-of-one was shot dead by alleged IRA members outside his apartment in West Dublin in April.
The 29-year-old’s siblings travelled to Belfast earlier this month to meet the sisters of Robert McCartney as part of their campaign for justice.
They believe Sinn Féin is protecting his killers but the party has condemned the murder and strongly denied any links.
Mr Ahern today met Mr Rafferty’s two sisters, Esther Uzell and Sarah Little along with their local Fianna Fáil councillor Garry Keegan for 45 minutes in Government Buildings.
Mr Keegan said afterwards: “Mr Ahern said he had followed the publicity of the case very carefully over the last number of weeks.
“He said he would definitely bring up the issue at the next meeting with Gerry Adams.”
Ms Uzell claimed afterwards that Mr Ahern was disgusted by the murder and assured her of his support.
“I just told him the story from beginning to end of exactly what happened to Joseph and Mr Ahern has given us his full support,” she said.
“He was actually disgusted to hear the full story from beginning to end and he has assured us that he will do everything he can.”
Speaking before the meeting, Mr Ahern said of the Rafferty family: “They’ve had a very, very difficult time and we have to see what way we can help them. The garda investigations are going on and obviously security and intelligence work is also going on.”
Mr Keegan added: “It’s not a campaign to get at Sinn Féin or the IRA. It’s a fight for justice and we’re calling on Sinn Féin/IRA to hand over the people responsible.”
“Just like the McCartney case, the publicity surrounding this case won’t go away until somebody is brought to justice.”
Mr Rafferty, 29, died when he was shot twice in the upper body as he left his apartment at the Ongar Park housing estate in Blanchardstown last April.
The shooting is believed to have followed a minor dispute during a party in October 2004.
The Rafferty family claim they have been the victims of alleged IRA intimidation in their south inner-city neighbourhood.
Earlier this month, Dublin City Council unanimously backed a Cllr Keegan motion for the immediate end to the intimidation of the Rafferty family.
Cllr Keegan promised that more public events will take place in coming days to keep the family’s plight in the spotlight.
