Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has warned the Government against reopening the issue of the release of the killers of Det Garda Jerry McCabe, after Tuesday's high-profile visit by the Sinn Féin leadership to the four men in Castlerea prison.
Fianna Fáil Limerick backbencher Peter Power insisted yesterday the Government would not soften its position on the men.
Mr Power, who met the Taoiseach on the issue earlier this year, said: "In the past few months, the Taoiseach has said their release is 'off the table'. He said they would not be released 'under his watch'.
"That position is not going to change. I can assure Mr Adams that neither I nor the Government will turn our backs on the McCabe family or the people of Limerick. There can be no reprieve for criminals," said Mr Power.
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams also said that although he would continue to campaign for the early release of the killers of Det Garda McCabe, there was no change to the position of the prisoners that they did not want their release to be part of any political negotiations. Mr Adams and Martin Ferris TD said they met the four men and four other IRA prisoners in the jail on Tuesday "to update them on developments in the peace process".
In a statement, Mr Adams said the party was "committed to securing their release" and that their continued detention was one of "a number of outstanding issues to be dealt with" in relation to the peace process.
A Sinn Féin spokesman later acknowledged there was no change in the men's position and that they would serve their full sentences.
Mr Kenny said the visit to the men and Sinn Féin comments afterwards "must not mark the first step in attempting to reopen the issue of the release of the killers of Garda Jerry McCabe.
"The release of the killers of Jerry McCabe is off the table. That is the official position of the Government, eventually adopted following public outrage that these persons might not serve their full sentence as handed down by the courts.
"Gerry Adams should clarify whether his statement following the visit is the beginning of another attempt to have the killers of Det Garda Jerry McCabe released." Mr Adams repeated yesterday that the men were qualifying prisoners under the terms of the Belfast Agreement.
"I am very mindful of the feelings of Ann McCabe and of the McCabe family, but let's be clear, this was a political decision by the Irish Government," said Mr Adams.
Mr Adams said the prisoners - Kevin Walsh, Pearse McAuley, Jeremiah Sheehy and Michael O'Neill - issued their statement in March removing themselves from the political process because they "did not want to be pawns in the negotiations".