Two members of Sinn Féin are being pressed by the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman's office to give detailed accounts of what they saw on the night Robert McCartney was attacked in a Belfast bar and killed outside it last January, writes Peter Murtagh in Belfast
Despite Sinn Féin protestations that party members are co-operating fully with the McCartney family's quest for justice, the two individuals have yet to say whether they will give interviews to investigators from the ombudsman's office.
The investigators are acting as intermediaries on behalf of the Police Service of Northern Ireland because of a refusal by Sinn Féin members to deal directly with the police.In the aftermath of the killing and its cover-up, Sinn Féin came under pressure from members of Mr McCartney's family.
In early March, Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said the party had suspended seven members. Mr Adams said they would remain "suspended from membership and from any involvement in Sinn Féin activity pending the outcome of the legal process".
Although the legal process has only begun in relation to two people who have been charged, and both the PSNI and Police Ombudsman's office say investigations are continuing, a fortnight ago Sinn Féin announced that five of the party members who had been suspended had had their suspensions lifted.
A statement said the five and one other party member whom the party said had also been suspended "have made statements to the Police Ombudsman and are continuing to co-operate with her office". A decision on lifting the sixth person's alleged suspension would be made in due course, said the statement.
However, inquiries by The Irish Times have established:
To date only one member of Sinn Féin, a woman who was in the bar, has been interviewed by the ombudsman's office on foot of making a statement via the solicitor. That interview took place in March, and was detailed. However, when word spread among Sinn Féin members about the sort of questions being asked, no one else came forward for interview.