The Guardian Feb. 9, 2005 Brutal killing turns republicans against IRA Stabbing of father of two is last straw after years of beatings Angelique Chrisafis, Ireland correspondent Wednesday February 9, 2005 ------------ The following correction was printed in the Guardian's Corrections and  clarifications column, Monday February 14 2005 In the article below we refer to Padre Pio as a monk. He was not, he  was a Capuchin friar. ------------ Behind the coffin, hundreds of mourners snaked in grim procession  through the tiny nationalist enclave of the Short Strand in east  Belfast. The stabbing of a father has sparked anger in these streets, where  three-metre "peace" fences separate 3,000 Catholics from the 60,000  Protestants who surround them. But Robert McCartney's death was not the result of a violent  confrontation between loyalists and nationalists on one of Belfast's  most troubled faultlines. The popular 33-year-old was killed during a  savage bar brawl and residents blame the local IRA. Father Sean Gilmore yesterday told more than 1,000 mourners at St  Matthew's church that the murder had a "devastating and demoralising  effect" on the Short Strand. The past week has seen an unprecedented turning point in local  attitudes towards the IRA. More than 600 people gathered for a  candlelight street vigil in defiance of Mr McCartney's killers.  Residents in the Short Strand, which has suffered decades of sectarian  violence, would once not have challenged the standing of the IRA, seen  as defenders of the community. But some said the vigil was a sign of  the growing unease at the criminal activities of what one person called  a "Goodfellas" gang of IRA "peacetime" paramilitaries. People  complained of IRA punishment beatings, racketeering, intimidation and  sexual violence over recent years. In an area with its own republican murals, once unthinkable graffiti  appeared on one wall last week: "PIRA [Provisional IRA] scum out". Mr McCartney, a bodybuilder and the father of two small boys, died of  stab wounds on January 30 after a fight in Magennis's bar in Belfast  city centre. IRA members from the local Markets and Short Strand areas  were drinking in the bar after returning from the Bloody Sunday  commemorations in Derry. According to reports, an argument broke out  and the IRA men sent for back-up. Mr McCartney tried to defend a friend  when the fight spilled on to the street. A kitchen knife was produced. Brendan Devine, 31, Mr McCartney's friend, was slashed across his  throat and from chest to navel. He spoke from hospital this week,  saying: "I remember a hand coming over my face and my throat was  slashed a couple of times." He told the Irish News he saw Mr McCartney  with his hands up being confronted by five men. Seven men have been questioned over the murder and released, including  a senior republican believed to be a member of the IRA's Northern  Command. Police do not think the murder was carried out to fulfil the  "organisational aims or objectives" of any paramilitary group. But,  residents asked, if IRA members were involved in the murder on their  own behalf, would they be brought to justice or would witnesses be  intimidated into staying silent? Police refused to comment on reports  that CCTV from inside the bar had been stolen. A Short Strand source, who would not be named, said: "The candlelight  vigil was a message. People are standing up and saying this is the  straw that broke the camel's back. They [the IRA] have beaten and shot  a number of people over the past number of years, now they have killed  someone. People are afraid to speak out. Someone might come to your  door and stick a gun to your head." The source said that in recent years, local IRA members had caused fear  with their regime of summary justice. They had carried out punishment  beatings, shootings and exilings. Within the past few weeks they had  punished a 17-year-old by shooting him through the hands in a new style  of attack named after "Padre Pio", a monk said to carry signs of the  stigmata. The teenager was shot after he was involved in a fight. Another source said local IRA members had been involved in crime in  recent years, including robberies, protection rackets and sexual  violence. One woman in the Short Strand said witnesses would be intimidated:  "They [the IRA] have too much power. People will be too scared to give  evidence. Whatever the [IRA] do, it seems they can't get caught.  Everyone turns a blind eye. We feel like we are at a dead end." When police investigating the murder carried out searches in the  nationalist Markets area last week, they were attacked by children and  teenagers throwing bricks, bottles and stones. Sinn Féin said the  police had been "heavy handed". Detectives are following 500 lines of inquiry. A local source suggested  some residents had contacted the police with information, once  unthinkable in an area described as a policing vacuum where people have  bitter memories of the old RUC. Joe O'Donnell, the area's Sinn Féin councillor, said the murder was  "totally and absolutely wrong", as were punishment beatings. He said  residents should give any information to a priest or solicitor. He  denied there was a danger of witness intimidation.