Lies and cynicism at Sunday World

The Sunday World this week published another tissue of lies aimed at Sinn Féin. The Garda's pet hack Paul Williams, notorious for his fabrication of countless, groundless stories designed to damage the party and who lacks any credibility as a serious journalist was given free reign by the Sunday World to once again make wild allegations. As usual he quoted liberally from 'unnamed sources'.

The misleading front-page story on 1 July purported to deal with the tragic death of Dublin man Joseph Rafferty, murdered on 12 April this year, alleging the murder was carried by a member of "Sinn Fein and the IRA" and that Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan chose not to help Rafferty's family and prevent the murder. The story was a cynical attempt to exploit a brutal murder for political ends.

Joseph Rafferty, a perfectly innocent 29-year-old father of one young girl, was murdered oustide his apartment at Ongar near Blanchardstown. It appears the murder may have been as a result of a confrontation Rafferty had with young thugs in the sout heast inner city area.

Rafftery's relatives had been threated by local thugs following the incident and on at least on occasion the IRA's name was used. The family reported the incident to local Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan who assured them that the men were not republicans and had nothing to do with Sinn Féin. He advised the family to report the incident to the Garda.

The Sunday World claimed the murderers were members of the IRA and Sinn Féin and that they were election workers for the party. Scurrilous comparisons were made between the case and that of the case of Robert McCartney.

Dublin Sinn Féin Chairperson Justin Moran slammed the Sunday World and said the murder suspects had nothing at all to do with Sinn Féin: "These men are not members of Sinn Féin, they have never been members of Sinn Féin or been election workers for our party. They are nothing more than thugs who brutally murdered Joseph Rafferty, a man who was a credit to his family and his community."

He further went on to say: "Sinn Féin has distributed a leaflet in the area asking anyone with any information to contact the Gardaí and I would repeat that call again. The killers of Joseph Rafferty must be brought to book and anyone who can assist in doing so has a moral obligation to help the Rafferty family in their quest for justice."