THE group of IRA members who were being hunted last night for the killing of Det Garda Jerry McCabe and the shooting of his colleague Det Garda Ben O'Sullivan have been causing increasing concern to the gardai over the last six months.
Within days of the ending of the IRA ceasefire in February last, members of the unit, including a man who had been released from custody earlier in the year, were detained by gardai in south inner Dublin.
They were arrested near a stolen Mitsubishi car, similar to the one recovered six miles from the scene of yesterday's killing in Adare. It is believed they intended to use the car for a robbery.
The unit appears to have a habit of stealing cars in Dublin, changing their number plates and hiding them in the south west for use in robberies. The Mitsubishi all terrain vehicle used to ram the Garda car yesterday was also stolen in Dublin.
They had also stolen three other Mitsubishi saloon cars to use in two attempted armed robberies of cash in transit in the south west shortly before last Christmas.
Both the pre Christmas raids were anticipated and foiled by gardai who mounted a major operation, known as "Operation Midwest" with Army and Air corps -helicopter support.
During one of the attempted raids, gardai at a checkpoint were confronted by the gang who pointed Kalashnikov AK47 rifles at them before driving away. The same type of weapons were used yesterday to kill Det Garda McCabe.
Over the last six months gardai had become increasingly concerned that the group of about 15 IRA men, based in the north west Cork, north Kerry and Limerick area, were intent on stepping up their activities.
Yesterday's murder proved Garda suspicions were well founded. There was, in fact, speculation among many gardai yesterday that the killing was a deliberate act. It was pointed out that the IRA men involved are all experienced gunmen, unlikely to be easily panicked. Some local officers described the killing as an "execution".
However, senior gardai said there was no logical reason to support the theory that DetGarda McCabe was the intended victim; it was more likely that one of the robbers was simply "trigger happy".
The Limerick IRA has a tradition of attracting very violent, even unbalanced members. One of its best known figures, the London bomber, Patrick Sheehy, shot himself dead while on the run in Co Tipperary three years ago, during a drinking binge.
Gardai involved in the search for the killers yesterday were, however, taking no risks. The heavily armed Emergency Response Unit (ERU) and the members of the Defence Force's Southern Command were immediately called out for support the Garda search.
The gardai quickly dismissed the statement telephoned to RTE on behalf of the IRA stating: "None of our volunteers or units were in any way involved in this morning's incident at Adare. There was absolutely no IRA involvement."
By the time the statement was phoned to RTE, the gardai were already searching for the members of the gang whose leader is said to be close to, if not a member of, the Provisional IRA's Army Council.
The killing of Det Garda McCabe also undermines the IRA's reputed policy of not confronting the security force of this State.
General Order No. 8 of the IRA's "Green Book" of rules, states that "volunteers are strictly forbidden to take any military action against 26 County forces under any circumstances whatsoever".
The order details guidelines for IRA members caught during training, saying they should try to hide or destroy weapons and, if caught, to state that the weapons were "for use against the British forces of occupation only".
However, there is no mention in Order 8 about robberies and most members of the Garda Siochana killed by republicans have been shot dead during robberies.
The IRA has regularly carried out armed robberies in the Republic. In May, 1990, a group of six IRA members, led by a woman, opened fire on gardai during an attempted robbery of a bank in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford.
It emerged later that the gang leader was heard giving orders to another member to shoot a garda who had called on them to stop. The IRA opened fire and gardai replied, injuring two before overpowering and arresting the gang. All the members of this gang were imprisoned but were released by the Government under the early release scheme for IRA prisoners last year.
During the August 1994-February 1996 ceasefire the IRA carried out at least one other armed robbery, of a Cash and Carry, in Monaghan, in early 1995. It has also carried out a number of robberies in Belfast.
The IRA is believed to be involved in extortion and money laundering in the Republic. It gave up kidnapping after gardai intercepted an attempt to kidnap the Canadian billionaire, Mr Galen Weston, in Co Wicklow in 1984.
The last known kidnapping was of the Quinnsworth executive, Mr Don Tidey, in November December, 1983.
The real point of General Order No 8 is that the IRA requires a low profile in the Republic because it uses the Republic to store its weapons and to prepare bomb attacks in Britain and, until the August, 1994 ceasefire, inside Northern Ireland.
The organisation realised, after the confrontations with the gardai before and after Garda Frank Hand's death that it was simply more expedient to devote its offensive action against the Northern Ireland and British security forces rather than open a second front in this State.
Over the period of the IRA ceasefire, when the Government pursued a policy of political concessions to Sinn Fein and the early release of IRA prisoners, many gardai were expressing concern that the State was dropping its guard against the subversives.
Garda management resisted Government pressure to move 300 gardai back from the Border areas to fight crime. A small number of officers was moved but, by and large, the force's main anti terrorist elements remained intact.