The McCartney family has again accused republicans of protecting the people who killed their brother Robert outside a Belfast city centre pub on January 30th.
Addressing the annual conference of the Labour Party in Tralee, Co Kerry, Catherine McCartney told the conference: "The central message is that the IRA are still protecting people who murdered Robert and that is the reason why there have been no arrests. We believe there were 15 people involved and that the key republican is still being protected," she said. "We can't just rely on the media. It's political leadership that is needed to resolve this.
"Republicans have allowed this to go on by encouraging this perception that we are damaging the republican movement - when the only people damaging it are the people who murdered Robert.
Last week, the family received fresh threats thought to be from someone in the Short Strand area of east Belfast. It warned: "The McCartneys better shut the hell up with their lies unless they want to be seriously injured." It claimed the IRA would no longer be able to protect them.