Legal proceedings aimed at securing the early release of two men serving jail sentences for the manslaughter of Det Garda Jerry McCabe were adjourned in the High Court yesterday.
The judge adjourned the case to "the back" of the court list, meaning it is likely to be some time before it comes to hearing.
Pearse McAuley, originally from Strabane, Co Tyrone, and Jeremiah Sheehy, from Limerick, were jailed in 1999 for 14 and 12 years respectively after pleading guilty at the Special Criminal Court to the manslaughter of Garda McCabe outside Adare post office, Co Limerick, in 1996.
In their judicial review proceedings, McAuley and Sheehy are claiming that their continuing detention breaches the Belfast Agreement and Irish and European law.
The case was listed for hearing yesterday but when it was called, Mr Justice John Quirke said there had been an application on Tuesday on behalf of the applicants to have the case adjourned because a witness they wished to cross-examine was in the US at the moment.
The judge said he had agreed to start the case yesterday and hear that witness later, but that proposal was not acceptable. He did not understand how the applicants could have been prejudiced by that sequence. He said litigants were queueing up for court time and he would adjourn the case to the back of the list.
In a statement last Sunday, the men said they no longer wanted their release to be part of negotiations on the peace process.