According to RTE, and some SDLP stalwart they talked to this morning, the crowd was a little under one hundred yet The Guardian counted 1,000 and put it on their front page. The Independent plumped for something in between. Am I being manipulated by one or more of these worthy institutions? This subject is hot stuff on Tuggetotoole so no doubt quite a few contributors will have put their feet where their mouths are by taking part in the demo Who went? What did you see? Or perhaps you all felt too intimidated to fight for truth and justice. Of course the rugby was on telly too so it's not like you had nothing else to do.

I saw footage of the crowd on TV. Lots more than 100 - nice try Barney. The point has also been made that
IRA men were walking around as a not so subtle attempt to intimidate.

The only picture I've seen was on the front page of the Guardian and it wasn't very helpful. What exactly do you think I was trying to do Davros?
It is hard to reconcile all this talk of intimidation with the high profile campaign and, we're told, large rallies. The intimidation can't be all that successfull.
BTW - do I take it Davros you had better things do do yesterday than support the McCartney's in their hour of need?

Well, I went to the first vigil and reckon there was over 1,000 there. I've had to guesstimate crowd sizes before. Usually the police put a figure on crowd sizes, but then there aren't many round the Short Strand. And the police often don't guess it right either.

The large crowd seemed to be in spite of the intimidation, rather than small because of that or any other reason. If you check the BBC and UTV websites, I'm sure you'll be able to find better pictures.

BTW - do I take it Davros you had better things do do yesterday than support the McCartney's in their hour of need?

I was looking after an invalid elderly parent whose last brother died last week.

What exactly do you think I was trying to do Davros?

Your question above answers the question better than anything I could write.

I was there myself and there were certainly many more than one hundred. I'd say there was about 500 there, but I'm not an expert at that so I wouldn't be surprised at a figure of 1000.

By the way, when will there be any more rallies? I found it difficult to find the time of yesterday's rally as I'm not from anywhere near the area.

"the family claim at least nine others implicated in the killing are being sheltered by the organisation. "

Before the sickies amongst us get on with lightbulb analogies, does anyone know how all of these individuals were involved in the knifing?

What happened to the killer, the guy who actually knifed McCartney? The last scribbler rumor I heard was that he was in Dublin.

Are the Gardi going to give this guy the run of the country? How about a little police work fellas, you know extradition, warrants, arrests, all that real cop stuff.

Aye well with SF's chumminess with ruling class Brits these days likely Uncle Tony will send over a comfortable helicoptor for the murdering criminal vermin to be airlifted safely to Lancashire where they can start a new life at the public's expense and sell drugs there to their heart's content.

"A Chara - Chinook-y Ar La"

Robert McCartney's uncles burst through the crowd, shouting: "You have nine other members of this gang ... who butchered my nephew. When are you going to hand them over? You couldn't even remember Robert's name [after the murder].

Robert's uncle originally from Short Strand Gerard Mc Kay hadnt put foot in the Short Strand in a long time id say didnt know his nephews name either.

I wonder how many people he butchered while serving with the British Army.

Brilliant Frankie. What gifted analysis.

Let's re-cap will we?

IRA members - accused by everyone of butchery- Good.
Former British Army member(alleged) - accused by Frankie of mass butchery without any grounds whatsoever- Bad.

And there I was thinking that the McCartney family might have a real reason for being annoyed at the hypocrisy of Alex Maskey and Sinn Fein.

Ringo,

Agreed. You passed over the subtext of Frankie's remarks though: that the British army is 'flooding the zone' and manipulating media coverage. Which is ironic, whatever way you want to look at it.