Marking an historic moment in the history of the North of Ireland politics, Sinn Féin members have voted to support policing.The party’s ard-fheis last weekend saw members vote overwhelmingly to back the Police Service of Northern Ireland. And the momentous decision has been welcomed by not only the Irish and British governments but Irish Nationalists at the grassroots level.
However the sister of Robert McCartney has said Sinn Féin's assistance of the PSNI in their enquiry into the murder of her brother will be the 'acid test' of their new stance of supporting the police in Northern Ireland.
Catherine McCartney was speaking yesterday on the second anniversary of his death. Mr McCartney, 33, was beaten and stabbed near Magennis's Bar in the predominantly Nationalist area of the Short Strand in Belfast.
'If it was purely a policing issue for Sinn Féin, that has now been removed,' Ms McCartney said.
'I want Gerry Adams to say he will encourage everybody to come forward and say they will help with the investigation into Robert's murder.' she added.
The PSNI has made a fresh appeal for information on the murder.
Responding to the remarks, Sinn Féin councillor John O'Dowd said that the party had already called for people to bring forward any information about the killing.
Politicians, both Unionist and Nationalist, have welcomed the Sinn Féin move on policing as a step forward.
DUP MP for East Antrim Sammy Wilson said he accepted Sinn Féin had taken a step forward while Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey said the move was 'a massive step change in the republican psyche.'
Meanwhile, the Irish Government has welcomed the latest positive report by the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC), the body set up to monitor paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland.
Pointing out that the IMC report declared that the Provisional IRA had 'abandoned' terrorism and violence, Minister for Justice Michael McDowell added that the report meant 'that there should now be no more delay in the restoration of full devolved government to Northern Ireland'.
In a joint statement, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Prime Minister Tony Blair also welcomed the report. They said that devolution would be restored if there was proper support for the rule of law and the police from republicans, and a commitment to power sharing by the 26 March by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the largest Unionist party in Northern Ireland.
Bertie Ahern said that he believed that DUP leader, the Reverend Ian Paisley, was ready to agree to share power. Mr Ahern and Mr Blair also confirmed that elections to Northern Ireland's Assembly would take place on March 7th
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