The first of four IRA men convicted for the killing of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe was released from prison today.
Michael O'Neill, who has served eight years of an 11-year manslaughter sentence at Castlerea, was given standard remission for good behaviour.
Michael O'Neill, who has served eight years of an 11-year manslaughter sentence, walks free from Castlerea Prison this morning
O'Neill, from Patrickswell, Co Limerick, was jailed in 1999 for his role in the manslaughter of Det Gda McCabe, who was shot dead during a raid on a post office in Adare, Co Limerick, on June 7th 1996.
He was involved in the preparation of the raid but did not fire the fatal shots.
Jeremiah Sheehy, Pearse McAuley and Kevin Walsh, who were also convicted of the manslaughter of the garda, are likely to be released within the next two years.
Despite repeated attempts to release the men under the terms of the Belfast Agreement, they faced fierce resistance from the officer's widow, Ann McCabe, Garda representative bodies and politicians on both the Government and Opposition benches.
Earlier this year, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern defended O'Neill's release, saying that the Prison Service had no legal authority to detain him beyond that date.
Det Garda McCabe's brother-in-law, Pat Kearney, said the family would ignore the man's release.