POLICE IN NORTHERN Ireland have arrested a man in connection with the fatal stabbing of 33-year-old Robert McCartney over seven years ago.

PSNI officers have taken the 53-year-old man to Antrim Serious Crime Suite for questioning as part of ongoing enquiries into the murder.

The father-of-two from the Short Strand area was beaten and stabbed to death in Belfast on 31 January 2005 following an altercation in a city centre pub.

The killing had major political implications in Northern Ireland after claims that there had been IRA involvement. The victim’s sisters accused Sinn Féin of obstructing justice and campaigned for the veil of silence to be removed.

They visited both 10 Downing Street and the White House in the aftermath of their brother’s death and international political opinion turned against Sinn Féin for a time as a result. The McCartney family said the IRA intimidated witnesses and destroyed evidence.

The usefulness of the statements given to police was also questioned. According to a Daily Telegraph report, of the 155 people who spoke to investigating officers, 71 claimed they were in the pub’s 4ft-by-3ft toilet at the time of the attack.

In 2008, Terence Davison went on trial but was acquitted of the murder while two other men were cleared of related charges of affray.