The letter should be put up on billboards and handed out to every person in the country. It just about sums everything up really. We the majority of peaceful people (of whatever persuasion)are sick and tried of being manipulated,intimidated and held back by the minority of political and paramilitary bullies (of whatever persuasion).

DessertSpoon and J Kelly, Maghera

ear, hear.

The Quinn letter to which John Kelly refers :

An Ireland of equals will not be built on fear (subs only )

(11/02/2005)

Gerard Quinn Belfast

Following the horrific murder of Robert McCartney I felt compelled to write this letter.

Robert was savagely stabbed, beaten and left to die in a city centre street. There were many people involved in this murder – those who carried out the vile act, those who witnessed it and those who participated in the clean-up operation.

Investigation into this was halted by what has been described as “orchestrated disturbances”.

Elected representatives were heard saying that: “It appears the PSNI is using last night’s tragic stabbing incident as an excuse to disrupt life within this community and the scale and approach of their operation is completely unacceptable and unjustifiable.”

I believe – as is evidenced by the support – that the only “unacceptable and unjustifiable” action that evening was the taking of an innocent man’s life. Our elected representatives told how it “was very regrettable that what appears to have been a very tragic incident at a bar has been turned into a serious political situation”.

If what happened in Belfast city centre on Sunday January 30 was not a “political situation” then it was criminal.

An act of crime that broke the hearts of a large circle of family and friends. The Chief Constable has said that he does “not think this is a crime that is related to a particular terrorist group following its particular objective”.

This would support our elected representatives’ theory that it was not a “political situation” – and therefore reiterates that it was a criminal act – and should send a clear message to the consciences of those with information of Robert’s final minutes. This was a straightforward inhuman act of crime against the natural forces of life and God’s will is that, while we must forgive and forget, we must also take responsibility for our actions.

The time is upon us when we must support those with information on Robert’s death and help to bring our community into an era that is free from murder and fear.

As I watched my cousin’s coffin lowered into his final resting place to be with my Grandfather and cousin Gerard I looked up to see nothing but confusion and pain etched on the faces of family and friends.

I wondered then if the hundreds who had prayed at the vigil and more than 1,000 who had attended the funeral were asking the same question I was: How does murdering the innocent “protector” of a “respected family” in the local community build an Ireland of equals?

Gerard Quinn Belfast

http://www.irishnews.com/access/archive/story.asp?SID=481024

Is that John Kelly the ex SF MLA?

Yes pat .

Yes Pat, time to get the smears ready

I'm sure that Pat can also dig out some dirt for us on the poor man's cousin

Very close to the line here DCB A.U.

Davros,

thank you, wasn't sure.

DCB,

your intervention follows along predictable lines, have a nice day.

AU - sorry it's just a very emotional topic, ultimatly the Northern Bank was (and I know I should take it more seriously) funny.

But this really is low and we've already seen SF supporters trying to spin their way out of it and I find that truely sickening

DCB,

I no longer buy the Irish News and as such was simply looking for clarification on Kelly.

I too have been sickened, not only with the murder but also by those who are now attaching themselves to the S Strand. Just to think these people were standing beside UVF and UFF gunmen when they were attacking the Strand only a year or two ago. But hey thats politics.

It's as simple as this the fight for Irish freedom has degenerated into greed fueled thuggery

When everyone was dissing Kevin Myers I made the completely ignored point that yes, you were all saying that Kevin himself was a putz, BUT you were still talking about Kevin Myers.

So, since January blood in the water has everybody at a white heat talking about what a bunch of black bastards the Sinn Fein and the Provos are but everyone has still been talking about the chuckies.

So, anyone know what their poll numbers are?

"greed fueled thuggery"

Best damned definition of Capitalism I've heard today.

It's easy to see why Adams breaks so much bread with business in the republic.

More bad news for SF :

Sinn Fein loses challenge over IRA fine

and the pressure continues :

Pressure on Sinn Féin over Belfast pub brawl killing

Even in the Mainstream ITV :

Family fury over 'IRA killing'

And to think I bought my neighbour a calendar celebrating 100 Yrs of Sinn Fein for Euro's 29.99
wot an eegit.

spirit-level the spelling is eejit

as a republican and sf supporter i think this is getting uncormfortably political.

noone for any reason would support this murder and sf don't

i would ask the fairweather friends in this situation how they feel this compares to various murders of nationionalists by the army and ruc, i can't help but think you have an excuse for a kid kicked to death in portadown witnessed by the ruc or a kid shot in the back scottish soldiers and an incident like this. its a shame people weren't so outraged by the death of a kid walking to a gaelic game and shot in the back. i make no excuses for these murders but i ask why this killing is more important than others. the only thing i can think of is that it makes political capital in the runup to an election, which would make the people involved quite mercanary in my opinion. would everyone who has posted on this sad and horrible murder agree with me that these people along with the lee cleggs of this world have no place in our society. or does the mention of a british soldier accused of murder annoy some of the people beating their chest over this killing. my deepest sympaties to the family

I don't think that anyone is saying that this murder is more or less important than any of the other horrific murders perpetrated by Republicans, Loyalists, RUC, Army, RIRA, PIRA, UVF, UDA....(the list is sadly endless. This murder was as barbarous and cowardly as all of the others and those that committed it should be arrested, stand trial and be punished. They should not be sent south of the border, shot in the knees/hands/elbows/ankles/head * (delete as appropriate) or as seems to be case protected by their organisation.

tebzz3
It serves no-one and certainly not the family in this situation to hark back to the past as so many of the posters on Slugger do, and as many of our politicians do, to try and find a justification for why these people will not be punished; why the community will not help; why Sinn Fein will not encourage witnesses to go to the Police. Perhaps you need to look at this in a different way - by coming forward you are not helping the Police but you are helping the McCartney family to see that justice is done for Robert. It takes a big person to make the first step and show trust and maybe this is the time for Nationalist communities for make that step and show the paramilitaries that their behaviour will no longer be tolerated and they need to go away.

I would like to add to my earlier post in a Mary McAleese stylee that going to the Police and turning in the local hoods applies to Loyalist/Unionist communities too! Thanks.

I will not call anybody names, don´t believe in it, but this killing expresses the clear degeneration in Irish politics. The Good Friday Agreement was really a con-job, engineered by Blair and Clinton on one level, with the Southern Government and the Trimble Unionist and Mallon SDLP at another level, and with Sinn Fein coming up behind all that. The GFA was really all about power and corrupt politics and those power names above were really the big names.

So decades after the Civil Rights upsurge we have the SDLP still a sectarian catholic party, Sinn Fein a sectarian nationalist party. (The SDLP is if anything moving more into a sectarian mode as Durkan´s recent election planning speech shows)

Given that political background, given that the GFA was based basically on a lie, or as they said I think 'creative ambiguity' this type of degeneration into out and out thuggery has to follow.

The only way out is for catholic nationalists to accept the northern Ireland state with some grace, because after all nationalism was given a sizeable chunk of the country in the form of Eire. It is greedy to want it all. But that wanting it all is a characteristic of most of these national movements.

I am appaled by the fear generated still in Belfast. I admire these women enormously and the injured man in hospital.. They should have no illusions in the state apparatus, however. But at the same time do not let the criminals who created the GFA, such as Clinton, escape either. I feel there is a political process and a crucial background behind this event.