The killing of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe at the hands of an IRA gang during a robbery sent shockwaves throughout the whole of Ireland.
A father-of-five, the detective was sitting in a car with colleague Det Garda Ben O'Sullivan when they were rammed by a jeep carrying a group of men attempting to rob a postal van in the Co Limerick village of Adare on June 7 1996.
Without warning, the gang opened fire on the two gardai with a Kalashnikov assault rifle, hitting Jerry McCabe three times. The assault took place with such speed that neither garda had a chance to draw his revolver.
A gardai chief later revealed that Ben O'Sullivan was lucky to be alive having been shot in the shoulder and grazed on the cheek by a bullet.
Gardai quickly confirmed that a Provisional IRA gang was behind the double shooting. The then Garda commissioner, Patrick Culligan, said there was "no doubt whatsoever" that the organisation was responsible.
The IRA, however, issued a statement on the day of the attack saying: "None of our volunteers were in any way involved in this... incident in Adare. There was absolutely no IRA involvement."
The killing was a public relations nightmare for Sinn Féin with party president Gerry Adams being criticised for refusing to condemn the incident. Instead, he described the killing as "completely and utterly wrong", adding: "I repudiate and renounce it".
However, during the negotiations that led to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, Sinn Féin negotiators failed to have the men included in the early release scheme.
Four men including Brixton Jail breaker Pearse McCauley, eventually appeared before the Special Criminal Court charged with arms offences and the capital murder of the 53-year-old garda. They included three Co Limerick men, Michael O'Neill, Kevin Walsh and Jeremiah Sheehy. John Quinn (30), also from Co Limerick, was charged with the unlawful possession of ammunition and with conspiring to commit a robbery at Adare.
The trial took a controversial twist when after 15 days the four murder accused pleaded guilty to manslaughter and Quinn pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit a robbery.
A fresh row erupted within months when all five men, now serving sentences of up to 14 years, were moved from the Portlaoise Prison to the low-security Castlerea Prison in Co Roscommon. The move sparked fears that the gang members were being groomed for early release – a move opposed by the McCabe family, the Garda Representative Association and opposition parties.
The government rushed to give assurances to Det Garda McCabe's widow Anne that his killers would never be able to secure early release under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
In November 2000, Mrs McCabe insisted that she had full confidence in the government's pledge to keep the IRA men behind bars until they completed their sentences.
"I have every confidence in the government and future governments... Public opinion would not accept their early release and I know the people would be behind me," she said.
But the McCabe family has continued to expressed concern about the frequent granting of temporary release to the gang members.
The effects of the detective's death were far-reaching. Public pressure, intensified by the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin by a Dublin crime gang, led to the introduction of tough new legislation to aid gardai in their investigations and to deal with the intimidation of witnesses.
