By Paul Majendie

LONDON (Reuters) - Catherine McCartney, whose brother was murdered by IRA members outside a Belfast pub, said the guerrilla group must stamp out criminality as well as formally ending its 30-year armed campaign against Britain.

McCartney, whose family has waged an international campaign to bring his killers to court, said the Irish Republican Army did not go far enough with Thursday's announcement that it would cease all armed activities and pursue its aims through politics.

"I thought there would be more clarity about those involved in criminal activity. The IRA should have made it more clear that they would have no protection," she told Reuters from Belfast.

"We have all been here before. People use words like unprecedented and historic but at the end of the day, progress has been very slow. If you are going to talk about democracy, peace and human rights, it is what you practice that is important. Stop protecting those involved in Robert's murder."

IRA members beat and stabbed her brother Robert to death in a Belfast alleyway on Jan 30.

The IRA leadership offered to shoot those responsible. Rejecting the offer out of hand, the family turned instead took their campaign for justice to London, Dublin, Washington and the     European Union.

McCartney said the time had come for the IRA to stop meting out vigilante-style rough justice in its working-class, Catholic strongholds.

"What happens if they do engage in criminal activity? Are they still going to be protected in the same way as those who murdered Robert?" she asked. "It is easy to say things but how will they translate on the ground?"

One man has been charged with his murder and another with the attempted murder of McCartney's friend Brendan Devine.

"But police say there were up to 15 suspects and nine were directly involved," McCartney said. "The only reason that witnesses are not coming forward is they know the IRA will retaliate against them."

"To a certain extent it is the victims who are forgotten. They should be consulted about the best way to achieve closure," McCartney said. "We have to keep fighting."