Adams urges McCartney killing witnesses to speak

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams for the first time has called on republicans to provide any information to the PSNI that could lead to the conviction of the killers of Robert McCartney.

This follows his comments over recent days that republicans should report various types of crime to the police and that republicans should be encouraged to join the PSNI.

Mr McCartney died after he was beaten and stabbed outside Magennis's bar in January 2005. While up to 70 people were in the bar on the night of the assault, witnesses have not come forward to provide evidence that could convict Mr McCartney's killers.

After Sunday's Sinn Féin ardfheis endorsed the PSNI, Mr McCartney's sister Catherine urged the party leadership to take action to persuade ordinary republicans who witnessed the murder to give evidence to the police. In response yesterday Mr Adams said, "Anybody who has any information about the McCartney killing should give it to the police."

Minister for Justice Michael McDowell also said that convicting the killers would be the litmus test of Sinn Féin support for the PSNI.

Mr Adams responded, "This is the Minister who refuses to put into place in the other jurisdiction on this island the type of accountability and mechanisms that are in place in this one. Mr McDowell, like Ian Paisley, is in no position to lecture or to give tests or to in any way put preconditions upon Sinn Féin."

Meanwhile, DUP MP Nigel Dodds seized on comments Mr Adams made in Dublin on Tuesday that he would not call on republicans to speak to the police if they knew about impending attacks by dissident republicans. Instead he said Sinn Féin intended pursuing a workable strategy "for dealing with those who would claim the right to engage in armed action".

Mr Dodds said the "heavy conditionality" of the Sinn Féin motion "was becoming clearer by the day". He said, "Sinn Féin are drawing a distinction between what they describe as so-called 'civic policing' and so-called 'political policing'."