Raymond McCartney (born 29 November 1954) is an Irish former Sinn Féin politician, and a former hunger striker and volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA).

Contents

• 1 IRA membership
• 2 Imprisonment
• 3 Freedom and reversal of convictions
• 4 References
• 5 External links

IRA membership

McCartney took part in the civil rights march in Derry on 30 January 1972, an event widely known as Bloody Sunday. One of his cousins, James Wray, was one of 14 men shot and killed by the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment on that march. As a result of this incident McCartney joined the Provisional IRA several months later. In 1974 Martin McGuinness, who commanded the IRA in Derry, instructed McCartney to beat up an INLA man, Patsy O'Hara, who McGuinness called a "s*bag" and a "hood". On 12 January 1979 at Belfast Crown Court McCartney and another man, Eamonn MacDermott, were convicted of the murder of Detective Constable Patrick McNulty of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, who was shot several times outside a garage in Derry on 27 January 1977. McCartney was also convicted of IRA membership and the murder of businessman Jeffery Agate in February 1977, and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The murder convictions were overturned in 2007.

Imprisonment

McCartney was involved in the blanket and dirty protests, then took part in the 1980 hunger strike, along with fellow IRA members Brendan Hughes, Tommy McKearney, Tom McFeely, Sean McKenna, Leo Green, and Irish National Liberation Army member John Nixon.

McCartney spent 53 days on hunger strike, from 27 October to 18 December. From 1989–91 he was Officer Commanding of the IRA prisoners in the H Blocks, and was released in 1994.

Freedom and reversal of convictions

Since his release he has been active with ex-prisoners' groups Tar Abhaile and Coiste na n-Íarchimí, and was the first member of Sinn Féin to have their own voice heard on television after the lifting of the British broadcasting ban in 1994. McCartney was arrested on 4 April 2002 following a breach of security at Belfast's police headquarters, but released without charge the next day. Later that year, on 5 September, McCartney was the first former IRA member to appear before the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, and encouraged anyone with information, including paramilitaries, to come forward. He was an MLA for Foyle from 15 July 2004 until 3 February 2020.

On 15 February 2007 McCartney and MacDermott had their murder convictions quashed by the Court of Appeal, following an investigation by the Criminal Cases Review Commission in 2002. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland declined to compensate McCartney and MacDermott on the grounds that they had not proven themselves innocent. The decision was appealed to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom which, in May 2011, found in favour of the applicants, opening the way for a substantial compensation claim from both for their prison terms of 15 and 17 years.

References

External links

• Profile: Raymond McCartney, sinnfein.ie; accessed 14 May 2016.

Party structures

• Leader of Sinn Féin
• Ardfheis
• Sinn Féin Front Bench
• Ógra Shinn Féin
• An Phoblacht
• Friends of Sinn Féin

Presidential candidates

• Martin McGuinness (2011)
• Liadh Ní Riada (2018)

Elected representativesAlliances

• European United Left–Nordic Green Left

Personalities
(Volunteers)

• Paddy Agnew
• Martina Anderson
• Declan Arthurs
• Thomas Begley
• Ivor Bell
• Antoine Mac Giolla Bhrighde
• Patricia Black
• Ruairí Ó Brádaigh
• Charles Breslin
• Paul Butler
• Joe Cahill
• Liam Campbell
• Fergal Caraher
• Malachy Carey
• Owen Carron
• Gerard Casey
• Carál Ní Chuilín
• Breandán Mac Cionnaith
• Gabriel Cleary
• Peter Cleary
• Kevin Coen
• Eamon Collins
• Dáithí Ó Conaill
• Eddie Copeland
• Marion Coyle
• Gerard Davison
• Matt Devlin
• Hugh Doherty
• Joe Doherty
• Kieran Doherty
• Martin Doherty
• Pat Doherty
• Colin Duffy
• Rose Dugdale
• Dessie Ellis
• Mairéad Farrell
• William Fleming
• Kieran Fleming
• Bernard Fox
• Angelo Fusco
• Michael Gaughan
• John Francis Green
• Dessie Grew
• George Harrison
• Brendan Hughes
• Francis Hughes
• Martin Hurson
• Pearse Jordan
• Gerry Kelly
• John Kelly
• Patrick Joseph Kelly
• Sean Kelly
• Jim Lynagh
• Proinsias Mac Airt
• Joseph MacM*
• Seán Mac Stíofáin
• Patrick Magee
• Paul Magee
• Donna Maguire
• Larry Marley
• Paul Marlowe
• Leo Martin
• Alex Maskey
• Pearse McAuley
• Daniel McCann
• Fra McCann
• Jennifer McCann
• Raymond McCartney
• Martin McCaughey
• Raymond McCreesh
• Joe McDonnell
• Séamus McElwaine
• Thomas McElwee
• Brendan McFarlane
• Gerry McGeough
• Pat McGeown
• John Joe McGirl
• Martin McGuinness
• Pádraig McKearney
• Tommy McKearney
• Billy McKee
• Kevin McKenna
• Laurence McKeown
• Michael McKevitt
• Thomas McMahon
• Jackie McMullan
• Martin Meehan
• Ian Milne
• Arthur Morgan
• Danny Morrison
• Conor Murphy
• Thomas "Slab" Murphy
• Kieran Nugent
• Ed O'Brien
• Éamonn O'Doherty
• Siobhán O'Hanlon
• Rita O'Hare
• Diarmuid O'Neill
• Dolours Price
• Marian Price
• Liam Quinn
• Paddy Quinn
• Billy Reid
• Bobby Sands
• Seán Savage
• Pat Sheehan
• Frank Stagg
• Jimmy Steele
• Bobby Storey
• Gerard Tuite
• Seamus Twomey
• Roy Walsh
• Séanna Walsh

Espionage and
Supergr*es

• Eamon Collins
• Denis Donaldson
• Joseph Fenton
• Kevin Fulton
• Raymond Gilmour
• Martin McGartland
• Sean O'Callaghan
• Freddie Scappaticci (allegedly "Stakeknife")

*ociates

• *ann na mBan
• Fianna Éireann
• South Armagh Republican Action Force
• Direct Action Against Drugs
• NORAID
• Clan na Gael
• Troops Out Movement

Derivatives

• Continuity Irish Republican Army
• Real Irish Republican Army

Prominent
killings

• Jeffery Stanford Agate
• Johnathan Ball
• Anthony Berry
• Robert Bradford
• Joe Bratty
• Matthew Burns
• Martin Cahill
• Eamon Collins
• Raymond Elder
• Gerard Evans
• Christopher Ewart-Biggs
• Joseph Fenton
• Billy Fox
• Maurice Gibson
• Ian Gow
• Heidi Hazell
• Donald Kaberry
• Andrew Kearney
• Baroness Brabourne
• William "Frenchie" Marchant
• Martin McBirney
• Jerry McCabe
• Jean McConville
• Columba McVeigh
• Ross McWhirter
• Stephen Melrose
• Lord Mountbatten
• Lenny Murphy
• Robert Nairac
• Thomas Oliver
• Tim Parry
• Paul Quinn
• Robert Seymour
• Robert McCartney (allegedly)
• Joseph Rafferty (allegedly)
• Ray Smallwoods
• Sammy Smyth
• Nick Spanos
• James Stronge
• Norman Stronge
• Richard Sykes
• Stephen Tibble
• Sammy Ward
• Michael Willetts