Republicans on both sides of the Border are discussing plans to initiate a campaign in support of the three Irishmen in jail in Colombia.
Mr Niall Connolly, Mr James Monaghan and Mr Martin McCauley were arrested last month after leaving territory controlled by the Marxist guerrilla organisation FARC which is heavily involved in the drugs trade. They had been travelling on false passports.
They are being held in La Modela prison in Bogota. They may be detained for up to eight months while prosecutors gather evidence on charges the three Provisional IRA suspects were training FARC.
The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, has called for their release but has said the men have nothing to do with his party. Sources said there had been concern from grass-roots activists that the men were being "hung out to dry" by the republican leadership.
While Sinn Fein would not publicly run the campaign to free them, it would be active in it, the sources said. The campaign would highlight concerns about Colombia's human rights record, prison conditions, and the chances of the men receiving a fair trial. It would not express solidarity with FARC.