Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has denied a claim by the widow of murdered Garda Jerry McCabe that he only condemned her husband's killing for the first time yesterday.
During a phone-in on RTÉ's Today with Pat Kenny show, Mr Adams was challenged to unreservedly condemn the killing of Det Garda McCabe who was shot dead by the IRA in June 1996 during a botched raid on a post office in Co Limerick.
Mr Adams replied: "I have already unreservedly condemned those killings. I have, furthermore, apologised and expressed my deepest regret not just for those families but for all the victims who have been killed in the last 30 or 40 years."
Later, Ann McCabe contacted the programme to say that Mr Adams had never condemned the killing of her husband in such terms before. "I want to remind Gerry Adams that this is the first time he used the word condemn in relation to my husband's murder. I asked him in New York to condemn it and he just said it was wrong," she said.
Mr Adams responded by saying that it was a matter of public record that he had been "unqualified in terms of this dreadful incident".
Meanwhile, the first of four men convicted of the killing of Det Garda McCabe was released from Castlerea Prison yesterday.
Michael O'Neill served eight years of his 11-year sentence for the manslaughter of Det Garda McCabe in June 1996.
He was given the standard remission of 25 per cent for good behaviour.
Mr O'Neill, who wore a green ribbon on his release, was driven away from the prison at 7am without saying anything.
The other men, Jeremiah Sheehy, Pearse McAuley and Kevin Walsh, who also pleaded guilty to manslaughter, are expected to be released within the next two years.
Mr Adams tried without success to have them released under the terms of the Belfast Agreement, saying yesterday: "The Government has set its face against that in contravention of various agreements made in the past."
Minister for Justice Michael McDowell, who informed Mrs McCabe of Mr O'Neill's imminent release, said yesterday that the men should have been jailed for murder not manslaughter and would have been but for the intimidation of witnesses.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny condemned the release and said his party was committed to ending the automatic remission of sentences.
Later on the campaign trail in Lucan, Mr Adams said he would not be advocating who the party's supporters should offer their preferences to after voting for Sinn Féin candidates. "We're leaving that to the voters' discretion. We are asking people to vote first and foremost for Sinn Féin and then if they wish, and they may not wish, on the basis of their preferences for any other party, but I don't see any thinking person voting for the PDs," he said.
