Ahern to meet family of murdered man

The Taoiseach is to meet the family of Dublin man Joseph Rafferty who, it has been alleged, was shot dead by a member of the IRA in west Dublin last April.

A Government spokesperson said last night there had already been contact between Mr Ahern's office and the family of the dead man. The only issue to be resolved was the timing of the meeting. It is unlikely to take place before the Taoiseach's visit to the US next week.

Last night's announcement of the meeting came just hours after Sinn Féin's leader in the Dáil, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, strongly denied that any member of Sinn Féin or the IRA had been involved in the murder of Mr Rafferty.

Earlier this week Labour leader Pat Rabbitte said he had no doubt that the man who killed Mr Rafferty was a member of the IRA. He drew parallels between that murder and the killing of Robert McCartney by IRA members outside a bar in Belfast in January.Mr Ó Caoláin yesterday said he openly and unequivocally appealed to anyone with information to come forward. He said the killing was an action Sinn Féin roundly condemned and it hoped justice would be done.

Mr Ó Caoláin said he had made inquiries about the killing of Mr Rafferty and had been "absolutely assured" that no member of the Sinn Féin party or the broader republican movement had any involvement.

Mr Rafferty (28) was shot dead by a gunman as he arrived at his home on April 12th. His family has already met a Labour Party delegation headed by Mr Rabbitte, who said he was satisfied that the man who carried out the murder was a member of the IRA.

He accused Sinn Féin representatives of refusing to intervene in a dispute between two families in the south inner city of Dublin which led to the killing.