OLDEST IRISH AMERICAN NEWSPAPER IN USA, ESTABLISHED IN 1928
Category: Archive

Kneecapping death sparks callsfor Sinn Fein’s ouster

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

By Brendan Anderson

BELFAST — A botched republican kneecapping that resulted in the death of a north Belfast man has put a question mark over Sinn Fein’s right to hold ministerial positions in the new Northern Ireland assembly.

Andrew Kearney, 33, bled to death after an artery was severed when he was shot in the legs in a paramilitary-style punishment operation in the Nationalist New Lodge area of Belfast last week.

Kearney, who lived in a block of high-rise apartments, was dragged from his apartment to an elevator by several armed men and kneecapped in both legs. He was also shot in one ankle. His assailants ripped out telephone wires and jammed the elevator door open at ground level to create time for their escape.

Medical aid for the wounded man, who was the father of a 2-week-old baby, was delayed by these actions and he bled to death before the paramedics arrived. Blame for his killing was quickly placed on the IRA.

Senior Sinn Fein members, including north Belfast assembly member Gerry Kelly, immediately criticized those who carried out the killing, saying it “was wrong and should not have happened.”

Follow us on social media

Keep up to date with the latest news with The Irish Echo

Kearney’s death was pounced upon by Ulster Unionist and British Conservative M.P.s, who claimed it proved that republicans, and Sinn Fein in particular, have not totally embraced the peace process and are, therefore, not fit to hold ministerial posts in the new assembly, which begins operating in a limited form in September.

The assembly will start working in earnest early next year when its full powers will be transferred from Westminster. Because of Sinn Fein’s solid vote in the recent elections, the party can expect to have two members on the body’s decision-making executive. It is these posts which Unionists say should be denied to Sinn Fein.

The deputy leader of the Ulster Unionists, John Taylor, warned at the weekend that his party could not sit on the executive with Sinn Fein unless: the IRA called a halt to punishment shootings and beatings, its members agreed to begin decommissioning their weapons, and they announced that the war was “well and truly over.”

Blocking Sinn Fein from the executive would require the cooperation of the SDLP and that, as Unionists well know, is unlikely to be forthcoming. Taylor said that if the SDLP refused to help veto Sinn Fein, his party would boycott the executive. This would mean the executive would not have the necessary cross-party support and could lead to the collapse of the assembly.

Some of the heat was taken out of the situation on Sunday with the news that Kearney’s mother, Kathleen, had written to British Northern Secretary Mo Mowlam, Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble and other politicians asking them to resist demands for Sinn Fein’s exclusion from the executive.

Mrs. Kearney said she believes that IRA members killed her son but she is also convinced the operation was carried out by rogue elements and was not sanctioned at a high level within the organization.

She said that while still being contemptuous of the people who killed her son, she and her family had appreciated the fact that many republicans had called to express their sympathy.

“It would be a mistake to exclude Sinn Fein, because I do not think it will be possible for us to have peace without them,” she said. “Some politicians are trying to use Andy’s murder for their own reasons and that should stop.”

Other Articles You Might Like

Sign up to our Daily Newsletter

Click to access the login or register cheese