Two IRA members jailed for killing Detective Garda Jerry McCabe today lost their bid for freedom.
Pearse McAuley and Jeremiah Sheehy, who are serving 14 and 12 years respectively for the manslaughter of the policeman, had claimed the detention breached their human rights.
Legal teams for the men also argued the Government's refusal to release them breached their rights under the Constitution, the Belfast Agreement and the European Convention on Human Rights.
McAuley and Sheehy pleaded guilty in 1999 at the non-jury Special Criminal Court to the manslaughter of Det Gda McCabe during an attempted robbery outside Adare Post Office in June 1996.
Mr Justice Daniel Herbert, sitting in Dublin's High Court, dismissed their application and ruled the detention was not discrimination.
In his 64-page judgment, the judge ruled that the men and other prisoners convicted of the unlawful killing of Mr McCabe should be required by way of punishment for the shocking nature of the crime to serve the sentence.
He said this was by way of a deterrent to them and to others against future participation in paramilitary and criminal activity.
He added that he also considered it a legitimate aim for the Minister For Justice and Government of Ireland to wish to ensure that a peace process in Northern Ireland should not be jeopardised by a widespread loss of public confidence.
The men's lawyers had argued for their release under the 1998 Release of Prisoners Act, which was invoked as part of the Belfast Agreement. In total 57 prisoners have been released under the agreement.
The two men are currently in custody in Castlerea Prison, along with Kevin Walsh and Michael O'Neill, who were also jailed in connection to the robbery and killing.
The four men are currently seeking an order quashing the refusal of temporary release. Their cases will be heard in the High Court in January.
PA