‘Burden lifted’ after murder of Gerard Jock Davison

The sisters of IRA murder victim Robert McCartney have described the killing of senior republican Gerard ‘Jock’ Davison as “if a weight was lifted” from their shoulders.

Mr Davison, who was shot dead in Belfast last week and buried yesterday, was accused of ordering the murder of Mr McCartney in 2005. The former IRA commander was questioned by police but was not charged.

Mr McCartney’s sisters, Paula and Catherine said they were left shaken when they heard Davison was gunned down.

Speaking to Miriam O’Callaghan on RTÉ Radio One, Catherine said: “The way I would sort of say it was as if, very strangely, as if a weight was lifted. Now, justice probably would imply there was an element of right about it, but murder is murder at the end of the day and we would condemn that.

“But on that very human level, he has been in our lives for the past 10 years and we can never think of Robert without thinking of Jock.”

Paula said she had no sympathy for Davison when she heard he was murdered.

“I did get emotional when I heard that he was dead, to the point where I cried. But I wasn’t crying for him, I was crying for Robert. And to me, it was the reality that he wasn’t coming back,” she said.

Catherine McCartney claimed Davison ordered Robert’s murder by drawing his finger across his throat in her book, Wall of Silence.

Catherine and her siblings believe Davison, who was buried yesterday in Belfast, gave the order IRA members to kill their brother in a pub 10 years ago.

Robert McCartney (33) was stabbed to death outside Magennis’s bar in Belfast in 2005 while up to 70 republicans attended an event in the bar.

Davison, who was arrested but never charged, was accused or ordering the killing and the IRA accused of covering it up.

Davison (48) was shot a number of times in the head during the execution-style attack in the Markets area of Belfast on Tuesday morning.

Police say they have ruled out a sectarian motive, or dissident republican involvement.

Catherine said the murder of a top IRA man has stunned the republican community and the entire city.

“Does that mean that people will feel the IRA have gone away, and that their power in the communities is not what it was,” she asked.

“Will that make people feel, who maybe would have wanted to come forward and help, more confident now?

“So we’ll never say never that something may happen. But certainly Jock Davison, holding him accountable, that’s gone.”

Paula said she does not agree with murder on any level for any reason and would have preferred to have seen Davison before the court of law.

“I feel that has also been robbed,” she said.

The McCartney sisters’ spoke on Sunday with Miriam on RTÉ Radio One. Their full interviewed Miriam O’Callaghan will be aired at 10am tomorrow morning.