McCartney was also convicted of IRA membership and the murder of businessman Jeffery Agate in February 1977, and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

[7] Since his release he has been active with ex-prisoners' groups Tar Abhaile and Coiste na n-Íarchimí, and was the first member of Sinn Féin to have their own voice heard on television after the lifting of the British broadcasting ban in 1994.

[9] Later that year, on 5 September, McCartney was the first former IRA member to appear before the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, and encouraged anyone with information, including paramilitaries, to come forward.

[1][11] On 15 February 2007 McCartney and MacDermott had their murder convictions quashed by the Court of Appeal, following an investigation by the Criminal Cases Review Commission in 2002.

The decision was appealed to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom which, in May 2011, found in favour of the applicants, opening the way for a substantial compensation claim from both for their prison terms of 15 and 17 years.