The sisters of slain Belfast man Robert McCartney received €10,000 towards their civil case to bring his killers to justice from the Socialist group in the European Parliament on today.
Mr McCartney, a 33-year-old Catholic and father of two, was stabbed to death outside a Belfast pub by a gang that included IRA members. Nobody has been arrested for the murder.
His five sisters and fiancee are seeking to raise £250,000 sterling for a civil case to put his killers behind bars, a campaign which has plunged Sinn Fein into crisis.
Socialist MEP Proinsias de Rossa welcomed the funding and urged other political groups in the European Parliament to make similar donations.