Two men were given life sentences for the "heinous" murders of two lifelong friends, one a Protestant, the other a Catholic.
Stephen McClean (30), Hillside Park, Banbridge and Noel McCready (32), Dickson Park in nearby Seapatrick, laughed and joked in the dock of Belfast Crown Court as they were convicted and sentenced.
They had denied murdering Philip Allen, a Protestant, and Damien Trainor, a Catholic, in a Co Armagh bar on March 3rd, 1998, just weeks before the signing of the Belfast Agreement.
They were jailed for life along with Ryan Robley (31), Highfield Gardens, Banbridge, who pleaded guilty last year to his part in the brutal killings.
A fourth man, David Keys, who took police to where the men hid their guns and clothes, was later found murdered in his cell in the Loyalist Volunteer Force wing of the Maze Prison.
Jailing McClean, McCready and Robley, Mr Justice Kerr told them the murders "will be remembered as one of the most heinous events in the history of Northern Ireland".
The victims were shot in the Railway Bar, Poyntzpass, as they discussed Mr Allen's forthcoming wedding, at which Mr Trainor was to have been best man.
Ruling that it was "highly likely" McClean and McCready were the gunmen who sprayed the bar with gunfire, injuring two other customers, the judge added that "it did not matter one jot to you that the victims would be honourable decent members" of that town. "There can be no doubt that it was carried out by a loyalist group and they believed only Catholic customers went to the Railway Bar," he said.
He said the people of Poyntzpass had always lived in harmony and this "wholly exemplary attitude could not have been more exemplified than by the two friends".
McClean and McCready were given concurrent sentences of 20 and 15 years for attempted murder of other customers and possessing the murder guns, while Robley was given sentences of 14 and 10 years because of his guilty pleas.
Earlier, Damien Trainor's mot her, Mrs Anne Trainor, said McClean and McCready had shown themselves to be "sick" by laughing and smirking when convicted.
She added that their convictions "helps us to come to terms with the killings".
Mrs Trainor said despite their life sentences, the men could get early release under the Belfast Agreement, but she believed they would "still suffer".