Updated, 18:47
SINN FÉIN has criticised Northern Ireland’s First Minister, Peter Robinson, after the DUP leader expressed concerns about possible links between Sinn Féin and a paramilitary-style shooting in Ardoyne.
Seán Kelly, who had previously been convicted of a role in the devastating Shankill bombing in 1993, was arrested and questioned in relation to the shooting of an 18-year-old male in Ardoyne on Tuesday night. He was released unconditionally this afternoon.
“The family of the man who has been shot has indicated the involvement of those associated with Sinn Féin in this attack,” Robinson had said.
“This connection raises potentially grave consequences for the process and we will want to meet with the Chief Constable to establish the background of this case and how the police are able to conclude that it is not paramilitary linked.
We will be monitoring very closely the facts of this case as they arise and the Sinn Fein response to them.
Robinson has sought a meeting with the PSNI’s Chief Constable to discuss the investigation and there have been calls for Secretary of State Theresa Villiers to revoke his early release licence, granted under the Good Friday agreement.
Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness dismissed the DUP statements, describing the assertion the shooting could threaten the political peace process as “frankly ridiculous”.
He also condemned the shooting and urged the loyalist party to “keep their nerve”.
“The violence related to extreme loyalist protests in recent weeks represented a serious challenge to the political process. We in Sinn Féin kept our nerve.”
North Belfast MLA Gerry Kelly welcomed Sean Kelly’s release, describing the affairs as “an example of shoddy policing”.
“The only thing the PSNI told Sean Kelly was that this was an intelligence led investigation,” he said this evening following Kelly’s release.
At no time during any of the interviews was any evidence either forensic, eye witness statements, anything, put before Sean Kelly to explain why he was arrested. In fact when the PSNI went to court to seek an extension of his arrest they admitted that there was no evidence whatsoever against him.
He said Kelly had been released, without further questioning, less than an hour after the PSNI had been granted a further 24 hours to question him.
“The PSNI created political hysteria, which some in the media and unionist politicians latched on to and exacerbated by making clearly ludicrous statements,” he said, saying the events had undermined Republican confidence in the PSNI while also showing poor political leadership among Unionists.
Kelly was convicted and jailed for his part in the Shankill Road bomb which killed nine civilians and injured dozens more. Kelly himself was injured in the botched attack, losing an eye and the power in his right arm.
He only served a couple of years of his term before being released as part of the Good Friday Agreement. However, there are still powers available to the authorities to revoke that early release.
This has already happened once when Peter Hain put him back in prison in 2005 as allegations that he was involved in dissident activity were investigated.
He was held for about four weeks in Maghaberry.
The 18-year-old victim of Tuesday night’s shooting sustained serious leg injuries and is being treated in the Royal Victoria Hospital.
Separately, two men have been arrested in Derry today on suspicion of dissident republican activity. The suspects, aged 43 and 44, have been taken to the Antrim Serious Crime Suite for questioning by detectives from the PSNI.
Additional reporting by Gavan Reilly
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