The McCartney Sisters' Search for Justice: Gender and Political Protest in Northern Ireland

The murder of Robert McCartney in Belfast in January 2005 sparked a campaign by his sisters and partner to bring his murderer(s), allegedly members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, to justice. The article examines the gender politics of this campaign. It explores how the campaign simultaneously reflected and contested traditional ideas about women's subjectivities and roles in ethnically divided societies. Furthermore, the article highlights how the ideologies of masculinity and femininity acted as political resources for the campaigners in their struggle with the Irish republican hierarchy.