Mr John Taylor, the deputy leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, said that the Adare killing bore all the hallmarks of an IRA action. "The IRA and Sinn Fein as joint members of the Irish republican movement are the common enemy of all the peoples of Ireland", he said.
Calling on Sinn Fein to condemn the murder without equivocation, he added: "Sinn Fein must share for this spilling of innocent blood."
Dr Philip McGarry, a former chairman of the Alliance Party, said that the murder, which gardai were attributing to the IRA, raised very serious questions about Sinn Fein's commitment to "any kind of real peace". He challenged Mr Gerry Adams to condemn it.