Republicans have agreed to relocate a controversial monument to three dead IRA members in Co Fermanagh after protests by the families of two Protestant workmen killed nearby.
The memorial was put up in the village of Belleek five months ago, causing anger among the relatives of Mr William Hassard and Mr Frederick Love, who were shot dead by republican paramilitaries after carrying out work at Belleek RUC station in 1998.
Unionist and SDLP representatives also campaigned against the monument.
The Sinn Fein MLA for the area, Mr Gerry McHugh, admitted at the weekend that the choice of location for the memorial to the three IRA men shot dead in 1992 had been insensitive. In relocating it, republicans were making "a genuine attempt to recognise the grief and pain of the families".
The relatives of the three IRA men, who had also suffered pain, deserved credit for agreeing to the relocation, he added.
"There was somewhat of an oversight in relation to the placing of the monument. There was never any intention of placing a monument that would cause offence or indeed further pain to anybody" Mr McHugh insisted.
"It is Sinn Féin's belief that issues of flags, emblems, commemorations and memorials must be dealt with in a sensitive but equal manner.
"There can be no hierarchy of victims, and it should be accepted that republicans, like all parties to this conflict, have a right to remember and commemorate our dead."
The decision to relocate the monument came only three days after the IRA's unprecedented apology for all civilian deaths it caused during 30 years of the Troubles. Mr McHugh said there was no link between the two announcements. Rather, negotiations between republican representatives and the families of Mr Hassard and Mr Love had been going on for months.
The Ulster Unionist MLA for the area, Mr Sam Foster, said memorials should be confined to cemeteries and burial grounds. "If this is an act of sincerity then one can only welcome it," he added.
The SDLP's Fermanagh-South Tyrone MLA, Mr Tommy Gallagher, described the relocation as a welcome move.
"Relatives of all loved ones lost in the conflict are entitled to remember their dead, but this must be done in a sensitive, respectful and uncontentious way," he said.
"Hopefully the families of those killed at the spot and the families of those commemorated on the memorial will now all be able to remember their dead with dignity."