The Sinn Fein ardchomhairle member, Mr Martin Ferris, has attempted to defuse the controversy over his reported call for the release of those facing trial for the murder of Det Garda Jerry McCabe after a deeply hostile Garda response.
Mr Ferris said in a statement that the report in yesterday's Examiner newspaper of comments attributed to him was "mischievous". However, he did not say it was untrue.
The Department of Justice has refused to comment on whether the rapid release of prisoners convicted of murdering gardai was possible. A spokesman said the Department did not think it should interpret the agreement on prisoners reached as part of the Stormont pact.
That agreement states that prisoners from organisations that have established and are maintaining a complete and unequivocal ceasefire would all be released within two years of beginning a review process, "should the circumstances allow it". It is not clear whether this final condition can be used to keep those convicted of capital murder in custody.
The Examiner reported Mr Ferris as having called for the release of all republican prisoners, including those serving sentences for capital murder and those on remand facing capital murder charges in relation to the killing of Det Garda McCabe in Adare, Co Limerick, on June 7th 1996.
"There will be no settlement while there are republicans in prison," he was reported as having said. "We will not be press-ganged or media-ganged into an agreement. The prisoners issue is central to that."
Mr Ferris said yesterday that while Sinn Fein wants an amnesty "for all political prisoners" it had never "singled out" any prisoner in the context of that demand. It did not give any ultimatum to the Government, he said. "We merely reiterated our demand that all prisoners be released as part of any peace agreement."
Mr Ferris could not be contacted for further clarification yesterday and a spokesman for him referred queries to Sinn Fein headquarters.
A party spokeswoman there said the headline on the report, "Sinn Fein wants those awaiting trial for McCabe murder freed", was "deliberately mischievous and misleading". However, she repeated that Sinn Fein's position was that it wanted "all republican prisoners" released.
The Examiner's security correspondent, Brian Carroll, who wrote the story, said he stood "100 per cent" over the report. Mr Ferris had stated to him that he wanted to stress that there would be no settlement until all republican prisoners were freed.
Mr Carroll said he then asked Mr Ferris if this included those on remand, and specifically those charged in connection with the murder of Det Garda McCabe, and that Mr Ferris repeated that there would be no settlement until all of their prisoners were freed. "He said that includes all remand prisoners as well," Mr Carroll said.
Garda bodies reacted angrily to Mr Ferris's reported views. The general secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, Mr George Maybury, said he would expect justice to take its course in the case of anyone accused of capital murder.
"We would be very concerned if the Government was considering releasing anyone convicted of capital murder and serving 40 years," he went on. This was a mandatory sentence, without remission, and was the only protection gardai had.
The Garda Representative Association called the views attributed to Mr Ferris "totally irresponsible".
The GRA executive member representing the Limerick Division, Mr Paul Browne, said: "I wish to state that a certain number of persons are before the courts charged in connection with the murder of Det Garda Jerry McCabe. If any of those persons is convicted of these charges, then the mandatory sentence as laid down by the law in that they serve 40 years imprisonment should be enforced.
"The Garda Representative Association insists that if any such person is convicted of these heinous crimes that the mandatory sentence should be served in full.
"The members of the Garda Representative Association in the Limerick Division and around the country are incensed by this statement attributed to Mr Ferris."
Arthur Quinlan adds from Limerick: Det Garda McCabe's widow said yesterday that her feelings about the report that Mr Ferris had allegedly called for the release of those facing trial for the murder of her husband were "unprintable".
Mrs Ann McCabe said she was doing housework at her home in Greystones, Limerick, yesterday morning when she heard a report on Mr Ferris's views on the radio.