Four members of a local gang known as the "Bulls" who dragged a young woman into a shed in Kilrush, Co Clare, and sexually assaulted her have been ordered to do 200 hours' community service.
Mr Justice Carney imposed the non-custodial sentence in the Central Criminal Court after a Garda superintendent agreed the incident was "horseplay which went beyond control".
He said the men were not "trainee serial rapists".
The four were Gerard Linnane (21), of Sycamore Drive, Thomas McInerney (20), also of Sycamore Drive, Thomas Clyne (19), of Beech Park, and Gerard Clohessy (19), Wood Road, all in Kilrush.
They pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the victim, then aged 17, at a shed on the grounds of a school in Kilrush on April 17th, 1996.
Judge Carney warned the men they faced a three-year sentence if they did not complete the community service orders in one year.
The victim, now aged 22, had been walking in Kilrush with two friends when the four started shouting at them.
The woman was dragged across the street, tripped up and held on the ground while her trousers, tights and panties were pulled down. One of the four unzipped his trousers and lay on top of her while one of the others held her two friends back.
The victim was shouting "Rape, rape" and when one of her friends shouted that gardai were coming, the four men ran away.
After a complaint was made, the four were arrested and questioned. They admitted their roles.