It was a strange sort of release. Some of the nine republicans freed from Portlaoise Prison yesterday evening spent their first hours of freedom sitting in a Ford Transit van opposite the prison gate waiting to go back inside in order to be released.
All nine had been on temporary release for Easter. They were due to return by 7 p.m. and had to sign back in before they could be released.
One prisoner slept in the driver's seat of a Dublin-registered Toyota Starlet as the wait continued for all nine to arrive and walk into the prison together. A number of cars came and went, returning with more prisoners and a small number of supporters.
The man who would later act as the group's spokesman, Bernard O'Hagan, sat behind the wheel of the Transit and told reporters the prisoners would be making a statement later.
At 6.36 p.m. the nine men got out of the van and cars and walked through the outer gate into a perimeter building. Ten minutes later they were escorted through the two inner gates and inside the heavy grey metal door of the prison. Armed soldiers patrolled outside the door.
A woman videotaped the proceedings from across the road, and people passing by stopped to watch. The Gardai maintained a low-key presence, with two uniformed officers on the pavement and another two in an unmarked car equipped with a traffic surveillance camera.
Just before 7.10 p.m. the prisoners, some wearing only shirts in the biting wind, stood in a stony-faced group for the cameras. Mr O'Hagan read a neatly typed one-page statement and handed copies to the press.
Three minutes after they emerged from the prison the men were driven away in the Transit van and a number of cars, sounding horns and giving the victory salute as they drove out of Portlaoise.
In a statement last night Sinn Fein welcomed the release. An ardchomhairle member, Mr Martin Ferris, said the release was "a positive indication of the seriousness with which the Irish Government has approached the peace process in relation to the issue of political prisoners". He said there must be an "immediate amnesty" for the remaining 270 republican prisoners in Ireland, Britain and the United States.
