Murder of Robert McCartney

On 5 May 2015, an IRA man believed to have been involved in the death of McCartney, Gerard 'Jock' Davison, was shot dead. Early in the investigation the police ruled out either a sectarian attack or the involvement of dissident republicans.

On 27 June 2008, Terence Davison was found not guilty of committing the murder; two other men who had been charged with affray were also cleared.

The trial of Terrence Davison started on 22 May in Belfast Crown Court. Davison was charged with murder, and with affray along with James McCormick and Joseph Gerard Emmanuel Fitzpatrick. Davison was found not guilty by Mr Justice Gillen on 27 June 2008.

On 31 January 2007, two years after the murder, and in line with the party's new policy of supporting civil policing, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said that anyone with information about the murder should go to the police.

As of 2007, the family were in contact with the family of Joseph Rafferty of Dublin, who died in similar circumstances.

Roughly four months later the accused were released on bail, and in June 2006, the attempted murder charge against McCormick was dropped, leaving a charge of causing an affray.

The murder of Robert McCartney (1971 – 31 January 2005) occurred in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and was carried out by members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. McCartney was the father of two children and was engaged to be married in June 2005 to his longtime girlfriend, Bridgeen Hagans. He was a Roman Catholic and lived in the predominantly nationalist Short Strand area of east Belfast, and was said by his family to have been a supporter of Sinn Féin.

Robert McCartney was involved in an altercation in "Magennis' Bar" on May Street in Belfast's city centre on the night of 30 January 2005. He was found unconscious with stab wounds on Cromac Street by a police patrol car and died at the hospital the following morning. McCartney was 33 years old.

On 16 February 2005, the IRA issued a statement denying involvement in the murder and calling on the perpetrators to "take responsibility".

On 8 March 2005, the IRA issued an unprecedented statement saying that four people were directly involved in the murder, that the IRA knew their identity, that two were IRA volunteers, and that the IRA had made an offer to McCartney's family to shoot the people directly involved in the murder.

In May 2005, Sinn Féin lost its council seat in the Pottinger area, which covers the Short Strand, with the McCartney family attributing the loss to events surrounding the murder.

The McCartney family travelled to the United States during the 2005 St Patrick's Day celebrations where they were met by US Senators (including Hillary Clinton and John McCain) and U.S. President George W. Bush who expressed support in their campaign for justice.

Support for Sinn Féin by some American politicians was diminished. Gerry Adams was not invited to the White House in 2005 and Senator Edward Kennedy backed out of a meeting that had been previously scheduled. The McCartney family, previously Sinn Féin supporters, pledged to never support Sinn Féin again, and a cousin of the sisters who raised funds for the political party in the United States has said that she would not be doing so in the future.

In November 2005, the McCartney sisters and Bridgeen Hagans, the former partner of Robert McCartney, refused to accept the Outstanding Achievement award at The Women of the Year Awards, because it would have meant their sharing a platform with Margaret Thatcher, who they disliked.

On 5 May 2005, Terence Davison and James McCormick were remanded in custody, charged with murdering McCartney and attempting to murder Devine respectively. McCormick is originally from England. They were held in the Republican wing of Maghaberry prison.

The McCartney family had lived in the Short Strand area of Belfast for five generations. However some local people in the Short Strand area, which is a largely Nationalist area, did not welcome their dispute with the IRA. A campaign of intimidation by Republicans drove members of the family and Robert's former fiancée, to relocate and has also caused one member to close her business in the city centre. Intimidation was continuing as of 2008. The last McCartney sister to leave the area (Paula) departed Short Strand on 26 October 2005.