The sisters of Robert McCartney have dismissed a letter from Sinn Féin's youth wing claiming they should be thankful to the IRA for having done "all that is in their power" to get justice for him.
The letter to The Irish News, signed Pierce Gormley, Ogra Shinn Féin, also claims the sisters have "seemingly turned the tragic death of their brother into a political showcase, instead of seeking justice for their brother".
Mr McCartney's family last night (Sunday) insisted that it was republicans who were damaging their own cause by failing to do anything to allow them achieve justice.
The letter had said: "The true face of the McCartney sisters seems to have come to the surface; their campaign has turned political.
"They state that they are at war with the IRA. The IRA did not order or sanction the murder of their brother.
"(The IRA) have done all that is in their power to try and get justice for Robert McCartney, and instead of thanking the movement for their efforts, they have used the death of their brother as a stick to politically beat Sinn Féin and also they have given a weapon to the enemies of the nationalist communities in the six counties, to prevent equality, justice and independence."
It added that the McCartneys should now "live up to their responsibilities and seek justice for their brother, not allow themselves and the tragic death of their brother to be used as a political football".
However, Gemma McCart-ney rejected the letter, saying: "These comments are to be expected."
"Eighty or 90% of the people in the bar that night were Sinn Féin or IRA members, which is why the whole thing has proven so difficult to resolve," she said.
"We are not the ones beating the republican movement with a big stick. It is these individual members who are refusing to come forward – despite their leader's command – who are dragging down the name of the republican movement.
"There have been no witnesses who have gone to the police. If anybody has made this a political football it is the people who were in the bar at that time. These are people who are potentially going to be government ministers in a few years."
Meanwhile, Ms McCartney also said she had learned that former Sinn Féin candidate Cora Groogan, who revealed last weekend that she had been in Magennis's bar on the night of the murder, had attended a rally in Short Strand calling for witnesses to come forward.
