I.R.A. Avowal on a Killing Ignites Storm
In an extraordinary admission that threatens to further damage its standing, the Irish Republican Army said Tuesday that it was willing to shoot the killers of Robert McCartney, a Northern Ireland Catholic slain by a gang that included I.R.A. members. The killing of Mr. McCartney, a 33-year-old forklift truck driver stabbed to death after a bar brawl on Jan. 30, has convulsed Northern Ireland politics, creating a crisis for the I.R.A. and its political wing, Sinn Fein, just months after accusations that the I.R.A. was behind a $50 million bank robbery.Full Story