Sinn Féin for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Michael McDowell publicly accused three of the Sinn Féin leadership, Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness and Martin Ferris (TD for Kerry North) of being on the seven-man IRA Army Council; they later denied this. On 27 February 2005, a demonstration against the murder of Robert McCartney on 30 January 2005 was held in east Belfast. Alex Maskey, a former Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Belfast, was told by relatives of McCartney to "hand over the 12" IRA members involved. The McCartney family, although formerly Sinn Féin voters themselves, urged witnesses to the crime to contact
Irish National Liberation Army Belfast Brigade INLA, it was during this period that McCartan was OC the Belfast INLA moved into extortion and racketeering, damaging their popular support they had in the city. The INLA Belfast lost direction in the 80's & a feud with the newly created Irish People's Liberation Organisation (IPLO) weakend the group further. The IPLO was formed by former members of the INLA like Gerard Steenson & the new groups leader Jimmy Brown. Hugh Torney became OC of the INLA in Belfast during the feud, he was almost killed in an ambush set up by Steenson in which INLA men John O'Reilly