"Justice for Robert McCartney has become secondary to maintaining the Chuckle Coalition": Allister
14 January 2008
Three years on from the brutal murder of Robert McCartney, Traditional Unionist MEP Jim Allister has succeeded in raising the case again in the European Parliament. Reminding the Parliament that the McCartney sisters had bravely brought their search for justice to Strasbourg, Mr Allister said they were no further on and were now the victim of the political expediency required to prop up the Stormont Executive. Likewise, he warned, the Paul Quinn murder would be similarly whitewashed and side-stepped.
In the course of his remarks Jim Allister said:-
“Three years ago this month Robert McCartney was brutally murdered by IRA members in Belfast. Abhorrence at the murder reached this House when the McCartney sisters bravely put their case for justice before us.
Three years on, justice still evades them. Why? Primarily because the one Party which could help them the most, Sinn Fein, is still more interested in protecting their own than seeing the killers brought to justice.
Indeed, the situation has worsened, because the pressure on Sinn Fein has been eased by their foolish admission to government, with the result that, for the sake of maintaining that government, the DUP and others are prepared to let Sinn Fein off the hook. Tragically, justice for Robert McCartney is secondary to maintaining the Chuckle Coalition at Stormont.
Likewise, with the more recent IRA murder of Paul Quinn. Though killed by the military wing of Sinn Fein, his murder will be shamefully whitewashed and swept under the carpet. That is what happens when you treat with the forces of terrorism.”
