Colleagues of Philip Sheedy, the architect at the centre of a political row over his prison sentence, say South Dublin County Council was considering a proposal to employ him on day release to work on community projects before his unexpected release last November.

Mr Brian Brennan, the South Dublin county architect, said this proposal had come from Sheedy because he was "determined to make amends for the terrible suffering he caused in the only way he knew how, through his work for people in need".

Mr Brennan described Sheedy as "a very skilled and dedicated young architect who has been personally destroyed by the consequences of one moment of uncharacteristic recklessness" and was struggling to atone for the death of Mrs Anne Ryan in March 1996.

"It was a dreadful accident, and he's very conscious of that. But if the Ryan family can take any comfort at all for their sad loss, it is from the knowledge that he was genuinely trying to make up for it by throwing himself into projects to help people in great social need."

Mr Brennan said Sheedy, a specialist in computer-aided design, could easily have got a job in the private sector and "made a fortune" in the present construction boom. Instead, he wanted to work on social housing schemes "and we were very fortunate to have him".

His most recent projects include 21 homes for the elderly at Liscarne, in the Rowlagh area of north Clondalkin, and an infill scheme of 13 homes - also for elderly people - at Castle Tymon, near Tallaght.

Sheedy was also working on the development of a Foyer project for homeless teenagers, a French concept which involves the provision of training, job-search and living accommodation in the same building.

Mr Brennan, who has visited Sheedy in prison several times, said the work he was doing since he was employed by the county council "requires an intensity of effort" and this could be seen in his small scheme for the elderly at Willington, near Kimmage.

He had joined the 18-strong architects' department three years ago. "I'm not trying to make excuses for him. I'm just saying that I've seen him trying to rebuild himself since the time he was waiting for his trial and every day of every week since then," his boss said.

Mr Eddie Conroy, the deputy county architect, recalled that he had taught Sheedy at the DIT School of Architecture in Bolton Street 10 years ago. He described him as "a very helpful, very thoughtful person" who had been "destroyed by one crazy moment".

It was "one of those awful things that can happen in a split second and your life is ruined", he said. "I wouldn't want to devalue the woman's life - what happened was a terrible tragedy - but he is completely remorseful and now he finds himself back in prison.

"When he was released from prison last November we took him back on because it could have happened to any of us and everybody deserves a second chance."

He said the view taken by his colleagues was coloured by other cases in which gardai had been convicted.

"What people can't understand is why Philip was sentenced to four years. It was an awful accident. As far as he's concerned, he was released legitimately. Now he's back in again and it's before the Dail."

Mr Brennan said there was "tremendous injustice" in the Sheedy case. "People are shocked that he should be released by the legal system that then says `Oops, we made a mistake and you have to go back in again'. Let's face it, judges do make mistakes just like the rest of us."

The convicted man's father, Mr Philip Sheedy snr, is a supervisor with FAS, the State training agency. He believed his son's four-year sentence was unjust and made strenuous representations to have his time in jail reduced, which is what Judge Cyril Kelly decided to do.