Seven members of Sinn Féin have been suspended from the party following allegations that they were involved in the murder of Belfast father-of-two Robert McCartney, party President Gerry Adams said tonight.
Mr Adams said he was informed the seven were allegedly implicated after he made inquiries about a list of republicans the McCartney family said were involved in the vicious murder of their brother in a bar on January 30th.
"As party president, I immediately instructed the leadership of Sinn Féin in Belfast to establish if any of those named by the family were members of Sinn Féin," he said.
"I was informed that seven of those named are members. All were immediately suspended from the party. This is on a without prejudice basis."
The West Belfast MP said if the seven were found to have been involved in events surrounding the death of Mr McCartney once the case had gone through the proper legal process, the party would take further internal disciplinary action to expel them.
They would also be expelled if they do not provide truthful accounts about what happened, he insisted.
Mr Adams's warning followed last week's announcement from the IRA that it had expelled three members of its organisation following an internal investigation into Mr McCartney's murder.
PA