Murder suspect was once in IRA say gardai

Senior Garda sources have confirmed to The Irish Times that a man suspected of murdering a 29-year-old Dubliner in the city in April was once a member of the IRA and still has strong links to the organisation.

This is despite claims by Sinn Féin members of Dublin City Council that the suspected man is not a member of the "republican movement".

Family members of the dead man, Joseph Rafferty, said they hoped to meet the Taoiseach this month to highlight the case. They are also planning a meeting with the sisters of Robert McCartney, who was murdered by members of the IRA outside a Belfast bar in January.

They have formally launched a Justice For Joe public campaign along the lines of that undertaken by the McCartney sisters.

"We are determined to keep the campaign going until we get justice for Joe," said Mr Rafferty's sister Esther Uzell.

The dead man's brother-in-law, Bart Little, said Sinn Féin and the IRA were inextricably linked, and that the party's representatives should do all they can to help bring Mr Rafferty's killer to justice.

The family believes Sinn Féin's representatives on Dublin City Council are in a position to put pressure on the chief suspect to make a statement to gardaí.

They also say Sinn Féin representatives are in a position to bring to an end a campaign of intimidation against them which is being perpetrated by those allegedly behind the murder. This involves on-street mocking and harassment.

Sinn Féin councillors supported a motion at a meeting of Dublin City Council on Monday, proposed by Garry Keegan (FF), calling for an end to the intimidation of Mr Rafferty's family.

However, the leader of Sinn Féin's council representatives, Christy Burke, has insisted the murder suspect is not a member of the IRA or Sinn Féin. He and colleague Daithi Doolan had pledged to resign their seats if the killer proved to be an active member of Sinn Féin.

Mr Burke said after the council meeting on Monday night he went to his contacts to check if those suspected of involvement in the killing were members of Sinn Féin or the IRA.

"I am more than happy that they are not," he said yesterday. "In the real world Sinn Féin do not have any influence over anybody to hand themselves in."

When asked if he had checked with his contacts if the murder suspect had ever been in the IRA, Mr Burke said: "I can't answer that. When I went to inquire I didn't go down the road of inquiring was he ever [a member of the IRA]. The IRA are not in the habit of telling people who was or wasn't a member.

"It [the murder] certainly wasn't done with the blessing of the Republican movement. You can't legislate for solo runs."

Mr Rafferty, a father of one, was gunned down last April in the Ongar housing estate in west Dublin where he lived. He was originally from the south inner city. In the months leading up to his murder he had become embroiled in a dispute with a family from the south inner city.

The dispute had its roots in a fight at a party in the south inner city last October at which three brothers from the area assaulted two young members of Mr Rafferty's family.

Mr Rafferty, a keep-fit fanatic who worked as a courier, challenged one of the brothers on the street the next day. There followed a number of incidents involving attacks on property owned by the Rafferty family.

Mr Rafferty was told a number of times by members of the family he had clashed with that he would be "got" by the IRA.

The woman whose sons he had become embroiled with is in a relationship with a former member of the IRA. He is the only suspect in the murder.

Ms Uzell reported the threats against her brother's life to Mr Doolan of Sinn Féin late last year and early this year.

She said Mr Doolan assured her on a number of occasions that the people involved had been spoken to and that the matter had been resolved. However, on April 12th Mr Rafferty was shot dead.

Mr Doolan last night said at no time was any threat on Mr Rafferty's life reported to him. Sinn Féin was "not a police force" and any threats should have been reported to gardaí.

He had been asked to check if the three brothers who had threatened Mr Rafferty were in the IRA as they had claimed. He had checked this, and had told Ms Uzell the men were not in the IRA. He stood over this.

Ten people have been arrested in the case. However to date there have been no charges.