The IRA offered to shoot the men blamed for the murder of Robert McCartney but were dissuaded by the dead man's family, the IRA revealed tonight.

The extraordinary offer came after the Provisionals carried out their own investigation into the killing outside Magennis's bar in Belfast, in which they admitted some of their members were involved.

Mr McCartney, 33, died after he and a friend were attacked on January 30. At least 70 people witnessed the brutal beating, but none has spoken out about what they saw. The knife with which he was stabbed was later destroyed, along with CCTV evidence, according to a new IRA statement.

The dead man's sisters have, however, refused to stay quiet about the killing, and have put intense pressure on the republican movement to co-operate with the police so that the killers can be brought to justice.

The IRA said that its representatives had had a five-and-a-half-hour meeting with the McCartney family at least a week ago, during which they gave a detailed account of their investigation into the murder.

The statement claimed: "The IRA representative detailed the outcome of the internal disciplinary proceedings thus far and stated in clear terms that the IRA was prepared to shoot people directly involved in the killing of Robert McCartney."

But the family refused. The statement added: "The family made it clear that they did not want physical action taken against those involved. They stated that they wanted those individuals to give full account of their actions in court."

Today's statement describes the killing in chilling detail. It says that one man fetched a knife from the kitchens, and a second man used it to stab the two victims. A third man kicked and beat Mr McCartney, and a fourth man hit him in the face with an iron bar.

"The man who provided the knife also retrieved it from the scene and destroyed it," the IRA statement says.

"The same man also took the CCTV tape from the bar, after threatening a member of staff, and later destroyed it. He also burned clothes after the attack...

"Of the four people directly involved in the attacks in Market Street, two were IRA volunteers. Two were not. The IRA knows the identity of all these men."

The statement does not mention what methods the organisation used to obtain such detailed information.

It continues: "We are continuing to press all of those involved in the events around the killings of Robert McCartney to come forward. The IRA is setting out all of the above at length because it is important that those issues of truth and justice are successfully resolved."

Nobody has yet been charged with the January 30 murder. Three men have been expelled as IRA members.

In addition, seven members of Sinn Fein have been suspended, and the Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams has passed seven names to the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman. Mr Adams has urged all those inside and outside Magennis's bar at the time of the attack to come forward and make statements.

But a senior detective has revealed that so far 10 people questioned in connection with the killing have exercised their right to silence.

The statement was condemned from all sides, including Sinn Fein, which would have opposed any shooting by the IRA, according to Gerry Kelly, a leading party member. "The shooting did not take place. It would not have been acceptable," the North Belfast Assembly member said.

"Sinn Fein’s position on shooting is very clear, they should not happen and the IRA has accepted and supports the family on this."

Elsewhere politicians said that the IRA was still wedded to its violent past. The Democratic Unionist Party leader, the Reverand Ian Paisley, said the offer to shoot was the kind of "so-called justice" the IRA was used to dispensing.

"It is their declared intent to murder. The Sinn Fein/IRA machine has murdered and maimed the citizens of Northern Ireland for 35 years," said Mr Paisley.

The statement was branded as appalling by the Ulster Unionist Party which said it showed the Provisionals had learned nothing over the recent weeks. Senior party member Sir Reg Empey, MLA, said: "The fact that this group is offering murder as a form of justice should be the wake-up call that the governments urgently need.

"These are the people that they would have democrats share power with." Sir Reg added that the latest statement proved unequivocally how far Northern Ireland was from the completion it had been calling for. Only the intervention of the McCartneys had prevented further murders.

"It is a sick and desperate statement that will be completely beyond sense to all rational human beings," he added.

David Lister, former Times Ireland correspondent, said that today's extraordinary IRA statement was a symptom of how rattled the organisation had become under the public campaign by Mr McCartney's sisters. He added that the statement was probably aimed not at mainstream opinion, but targeted at reassuring grassroots republicans in Northern Ireland, who feel Mr McCartney's murder has damaged the name of the IRA.

"There has been a lot of pressure from their own supporters in Northern Ireland to shoot these people, as the IRA would traditionally have done in the past," Lister said.

"There are many republicans who see nothing wrong with that kind of rough justice, and are concerned that the IRA is besmirching the name of republicanism."

All five of Mr McCartney's sisters, and his partner, Bridgeen, are due to travel to Washington next week as part of their campaign to help bring the killers to justice. They have been invited to the President's St Patrick's Day reception, as people who are trying help the peace process.

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