The US officials say there is unlikely to be any hope for resolving the problem with Northern Ireland till the IRA continues to be involved in criminal cases like December bank robbery and killing of a Catholic in Belfast.

Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy praised assassinated Robert McCartney’s sisters for being courageous enough to oppose the criminality of the IRA. "To all intents and purposes we are not talking about any future negotiations or discussions until the issue about criminal activity on the part of the IRA is addressed" he said.

Robert McCartney was killed in Belfast by a gang that included two IRA activists. His sisters blamed IRA for being irresponsible over its membership and asked the US to help in investigating the case. Mr. McCartney had a fiancee and two children.

Paula, Catherine, Gemma, Donna and Claire McCartney met with the US President George W. Bush on St. Patrick’s Day demanding a fair end to McCartney’s case.

"They’ve created their own Bloody Sunday. Conspiracy is silence because there was obviously a big percentage of Sinn Fein members in that bar that night," said Claire McCartney about Sinn Fein. The party’s president Gerry Adams is not welcomed at the White House as it was traditionally established on St. Patrick’s Day.