The McCartney sisters and Robert McCartney's fiancee, Bridgeen Hagans, who meet Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in Dublin today, are to stage a "Justice for Robert" rally in Dublin in the coming weeks.
Ahead of the meeting, Paula McCartney, one of Robert's sisters, said that the family was told "on good authority" that two men implicated in his death were prepared to admit their involvement but only on the basis that they could say they were obeying a formal IRA order to kill Mr McCartney.
Ms McCartney said yesterday that the family had no intention of publicly endorsing or campaigning against any particular party or candidates in the local and Westminster elections in the North. Equally however, the McCartneys plan to step up their campaign ahead of polling day on May 5th to maximise the chances of pressurising republicans into unequivocally handing the killers over to the police.
No venue has yet been chosen for the Dublin rally although after meeting Mr Ahern today, the McCartneys will examine whether Liberty Hall would be suitable for the gathering. They are also considering a number of outside venues, including the GPO. No date for the rally has been settled on but it will be before May 5th, said Ms McCartney.
The McCartneys will also stage an afternoon vigil next Sunday outside Magennis's bar, where Robert McCartney was fatally stabbed on January 30th. On Saturday the McCartneys will travel to Derry to support a rally organised by the families of James "Dee Dee" McGinley and Mark "Mousy" Robinson who were allegedly fatally stabbed by IRA members in October 2003 and April 2001 respectively.
While the McCartneys over recent weeks took their campaign to the US, Brussels and Dublin, no one was charged in connection with Robert McCartney's murder, notwithstanding that there were about 70 people in or about Magennis's on the night of the stabbing.
More than 12 people, many of whom voluntarily went to the police following urgings from the IRA and Sinn Féin, were arrested but then released without charge. Sinn Féin's chief negotiator, Martin McGuinness, said that the PSNI was in a position to charge at least two men but that it failed to do so in an attempt to damage Sinn Féin politically.
Paula McCartney, however, told The Irish Times yesterday that she was generally happy with the manner in which the PSNI was conducting its investigation. "As it stands the police probably could charge two people but the fact is they don't have enough evidence to make any charges stick," she said.
What was crucial was that people were prepared to provide full eyewitness accounts of how her brother was killed, and so far that had not happened, said Ms McCartney.
Family and security sources say three people were centrally involved in the killing, a senior IRA commander in Belfast who allegedly ordered that he be killed, and two men who were involved in the stabbing.
According to Ms McCartney, these two men were prepared to admit their involvement but only on the basis that they could say in court that they were carrying out an order officially given by the IRA commander. "We were told on good authority that these republicans didn't want to be portrayed as psychopaths - even though that's what we believe they are," she said.
"We were told that they would go forward to the police as long as it was seen that they were IRA volunteers obeying orders," she added.
The alleged IRA commander, however, has denied issuing these orders. The McCartney family, political and local sources also said that this IRA figure has been "rehabilitated into the IRA family" and that he has been seen with another senior IRA figure.
