The widow of murdered Detective Garda Jerry McCabe has warned the Government today that her husband's killers must never be freed as part of any peace deal.
Mrs Ann McCabe was speaking after the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, unexpectedly confirmed in the Dáil yesterday that the issue was not only "off the table" but he did not "see it coming back on the table" again in future talks.
Mr Ahern provoked outrage in early December when he revealed that the four IRA men convicted of the 1996 killing could be freed early as part of an overall settlement.
The early release had been a key negotiating demand by Sinn Féin during power-sharing talks, even though the men did not qualify under the terms of the Belfast Agreement.
Mrs McCabe said: "This was never part of the Good Friday Agreement. If it was, I would never have voted for it.
"I voted for peace. I certainly didn't vote for the release of my husband's killers."
She added: "I would be totally against, as the normal decent people of Ireland would be, any early release."
Mr McCabe was gunned down in a botched post office raid in Adare, Co Limerick, in 1996.
Mr Ahern made his comments during a Fine Gael motion in the Dail calling on republicans to abandon all violence and embrace democracy.
The Government and the Opposition were divided on the wording of the motion until Mr Ahern confirmed his position on McCabe. Sinn Féin will respond to the motion tonight before a vote.
Mrs McCabe said she had received many letters and cards from people telling her to stay firm on the release of her husband's killers.