The following statement was issued to RTÉ yesterday afternoon by Kevin Walsh, Pearse McAuley, Jeremiah Sheehy and Michael O'Neill, who are serving sentences in Castlerea Prison for their roles in the killing of Garda Jerry McCabe:
"We deeply regret the death of Garda Jerry McCabe and the wounding of Garda Ben O'Sullivan during an IRA operation in Adare in June 1996. We deeply regret and apologise for this and the hurt and grief we have caused to their families. There was never any intent to attack any members of the Garda Síochána.
We are qualifying IRA prisoners under the Good Friday agreement. This has been confirmed by the High Court and the Supreme Court.
The Irish Government have an obligation to release us. They have refused to do so and are now presenting our release as an obstacle to negotiations and an agreement.
For this reason we do not want our release to be part of any further negotiations with the Irish Government.
We are totally committed to the peace process. We will not allow ourselves to be used as political pawns or hostages to undermine this process. The cause of lasting peace is too important."