Two held over Belfast bar murder
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Two men have been arrested in connection with the high-profile murder of Belfast father-of-two Robert McCartney, police say.
The men, aged 36 and 49, were arrested following police operations in Belfast and Birmingham, the Northern Ireland police service told CNN.
McCartney, 33, died after he was attacked outside Magennis's Bar in Belfast city center on January 30.
McCartney, a forklift truck driver, was beaten and stabbed to death. He lived in a working-class Catholic district considered an Irish Republican Army (IRA) heartland.
Nobody has been charged with the murder despite the attack taking place at a crowded pub in Belfast frequented by well-known local IRA figures.
The murder cast a shadow over the Northern Ireland peace process, with his four sisters campaigning in Britain, the U.S., and at the European Parliament in Strasbourg for his killers to be brought to justice.
McCartney's sister, Catherine McCartney, welcomed the news.
She told the UK's Press Association: "We obviously welcome these arrests but remain cautious. People have been arrested before and let out."
"Others have walked into police stations, stared at walls and said nothing."
The IRA expelled three members for their role in the brutal stabbing.
