The convicted killers of Det Garda Jerry McCabe were "within an hour" of release as part of an overall peace settlement last year, it has been claimed.
Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris said today he was part of the negotiation process when the Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice agreed to the release of the four men and that "they were within an hour of being released".
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Pat Kennyprogramme, Mr Ferris said that if Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble had accepted the De Chastelain report last year, the agreement to release the Castlerea prisoners was "signed, sealed and delivered".
This failed to emerge after Mr Trimble rejected the report on IRA decommissioning. The killers were again close to being released last December as part of a peace settlement before the Northern Bank robbery scuppered the talks.
Mr Ferris welcomed the statement by the four men - Kevin Walsh, Pearse McAuley, Jeremiah Sheehy and Michael O'Neill - that they no longer wanted their release to be on the table as part of a settlement.
"I think it's welcome. I welcome it. I try to understand the terrible pain the McCabe family feel on the loss of their husband. It shouldn't have happened, it was terribly wrong. I welcome the fact that the people in prison in Castlrea have come and made this statement," he said.
The Kerry North TD rejected the claim of Mrs Ann McCabe that the statement by the four prisoners was a publicity stunt.
Mr Ferris said the solicitors representing some of the men had apologised in court for the crime.
"I will respect the decision taken by the prisoners in Castlerea, and taken by themselves - it's not a PR exercise because at the end of the day they have offered up their liberty in the interests of the peace process and I think that has to be recognised."
Mr Ferris said what happened in Adare, Co Limerick, in 1996 when Det Garda McCabe was killed was "wrong and should not have happened".
The TD said there had never been any intent to "engage with the security forces of the 26 counties".
"Things happen in struggle that should not happen. I firmly concede that. People suffer as a result of it and it helps nobody but what we are about and trying to do to the best of our ability is to bring about a situation where this will never happen again and we will do our best in that regard."
The Kerry TD also rejected renewed claims in the media at the weekend that he is on the IRA army council.
"I am not a member of the IRA, therefore I could not be a member of the Army Council, and Gerry [Adams] and Martin [McGuinness] have said similar. If Michael McDowell and the Tánaiste believe that and have evidence of that, why don't they charge us? That's the reality."
Mr Ferris said a newspaper yesterday had been responsible for a "scurrilous" attack on him. "I have been in the IRA, I have never denied it. I have been in prison for actions connected with the IRA, I have never denied it."
However, since his release in 1994, he and his party colleagues in Sinn Féin had "worked around the clock" to try to ensure that no other person would have to go to prison, that no other person would suffer as the widow of Det Garda McCabe had suffered, he said.