POLICE IN NORTHERN Ireland have arrested a man in connection with the murder of Robert McCartney in 2005.

PSNI detectives arrested the 51-year-old in Jonesborough in Armagh this morning and searched a property in the area.

The man has been taken to Antrim Serious Crime Suite for questioning.

Robert McCartney was beaten and stabbed to death in Belfast in January 2005 after an altercation in a pub in the city.

After his death his family went public with their fears that republican paramilitaries were intimidating witnesses and pressuring them not to give evidence about the murder amid claims that the IRA had been involved in his killing.

The IRA denied that any involvement in the killing but expelled three of its members shortly afterwards.

McCartney’s sisters campaigned for witnesses to speak out and for the truth to come out about the death of their brother. The case put pressure on Sinn Féin at the time as allegations surfaced that the party were involved in obstructing efforts to bring the killers to justice.