The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has learned from past mistakes and admitted candidly in the Dáil that, in the event of the Provisional IRA ending all paramilitary activity, he would be prepared to recommend the release of the killers of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe.
This will not happen under the terms of the Belfast Agreement, but by way of earlier legislation. The development was immediately criticised by a spokesman for the Garda Representative Association (GRA). And the Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, said it would cause public outrage. That may be so. But if the release of the prisoners is a make-or-break point in the deal in Northern Ireland - and Mr Ahern says it is - then it can be justified.
Earlier this year, the Government generated controversy and damaged public confidence when it sought to deny that negotiations for the release of the four prisoners had taken place in March and that a policy requiring the prisoners to serve out their full sentences had changed. After days of obfuscation, Mr Ahern finally admitted that the release of the men would have been conditional on an end to all IRA paramilitary activity. Later, the Sinn Féin president, Mr Gerry Adams, said that the prisoners would have been freed within 12 months.
Any new arrangement is likely to follow that pattern. While the ending of paramilitary activity and IRA decommissioning is at the heart of current negotiations with the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland, there is still no certainty about the time-frame within which the IRA will go away. The Government must be satisfied beyond any doubt that IRA activity has ceased before these men are given their freedom. The Taoiseach must also follow through on his commitment to consult in advance with the McCabe family and with Garda representative organisations.
The distress of the McCabe family is understandable, in light of a succession of written and oral Government undertakings that the men would serve out their prison sentences. And members of the GRA are expected to object strenuously to the development when they meet next week. In spite of that, the willingness of the Government to change its policy has to be viewed in the context of the Northern Ireland situation. There, killers of RUC men have already been released. And any new deal is likely to include an amnesty for IRA members "on the run". If the release of Det Garda McCabe's killers contributes an essential element to final acts of completion and a comprehensive settlement, under which all IRA activities will end, the greater good will have been served. The bigger picture will cause offence to all.