A fresh attempt to free those convicted of involvement in the killing of Garda Jerry McCabe will be made in the Supreme Court today. The garda was killed in the course of a robbery in Adare carried out by members of the IRA in 1996.
In February 1999, Michael O'Neill was convicted of the manslaughter of the Garda and sentenced to 11 years.
John Quinn was sentenced to six years for conspiracy to commit a robbery during the same incident, and has now been released having served his sentence.
In 2002, they applied unsuccessfully to the High Court for declarations that they should be released under the terms of the Belfast Agreement.
Lawyers for the two men said that they were being discriminated against in comparison with other prisoners in similar circumstances who had been released under the agreement.
The High Court rejected their application, and they appealed to the Supreme Court, which upheld the decision of the High Court, stating that the Minister for Justice had discretion in relation to the application of the terms of the Belfast Agreement to prisoner releases.
The judgment also stated that these cases differed from others in that the convictions came after the conclusion of the Belfast Agreement.
Today lawyers for Quinn and O'Neill will argue that the court should vacate its judgment, as it was based on an error of fact. They will cite the release of other prisoners under the Belfast Agreement - Padraig Steenson and John Carolan, both convicted of firearms offences - who were convicted following its signing in April 1998.
The court may hold that there is no provision in the Constitution or in legislation for a review of a decision already made by the Supreme Court.
However, lawyers for the two men are likely to argue that under the European Convention on Human Rights, which has been incorporated into Irish law, the State must provide an effective remedy in the form of a tribunal for a person who claims his or her rights have been violated.