The widow of Garda Jerry McCabe has been inundated by messages of goodwill and support from Northern Ireland in recent weeks.
Anne McCabe told the Irish News that she had been overwhelmed by the number of letters and cards sent to her Limerick home from people north of the border.
The McCabe family is currently waging a fresh battle to ensure that the IRA killers of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe serve their sentences for manslaughter in full.
Dozens of messages from Northern Ireland began arriving at the family home last month after it was confirmed that the release of the four men jailed for
Det Garda McCabe's killing was a possibility if a peace deal was agreed.
Pearse McAuley, Jeremiah Sheehy, Kevin Walsh and Michael O'Neill are serving between 11 and 14 years for the manslaughter of the 52-year-old detective, gunned down in a hail of bullets in the botched robbery attempt of a post office van in Adare, Co Limerick in June 1996.
News that the men could be freed early sparked a storm of public outrage and caused discontent within the ranks of Fianna Fail.
The government was accused of reneging on a written promise to the McCabe family by former Justice Minister John O'Donoghue that the prisoners would remain behind bars.
Mrs McCabe said she had been "definitely helped" in recent weeks after receiving many messages of support from Northern Ireland.
"I've received so many lovely letters and they're still coming. They've been sent by members of the public as well as the PSNI and RUC widows. It has been just brilliant," she said.
In particular, Mrs McCabe praised members of the RUC Widows Association who sent "the most beautiful letters" expressing their full support for her family.
However, she expressed disappointment at a comment made by a member of the panel on RTE's Questions and Answers programme on Monday night.
Referring to the criminal activities of the Provisional IRA, including the Northern Bank robbery, the panellist said the peace process had already managed to get over "hurdles" such as the McCabe killing.
Mrs McCabe responded by insisting that the talks process "has not gotten over the Jerry McCabe hurdle, it is off the table for good".
She added that she was "not surprised" by PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde's claims that the IRA was responsible for the multi-million pound bank raid in Belfast, adding that "time will tell" in relation to the full facts surrounding the robbery.
The Limerick mother praised members of An Garda Siochana for their vocal opposition to the release of her husband's killers.
Last week, Mrs McCabe and other family members met leaders of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) in Adare.
The meeting marked the first time that the 28 members of the GRA national executive met outside Dublin.
In a statement, general secretary PJ Stone said suspicions that the IRA was behind the £26.5 million bank robbery indicated the true nature of the organisation, which should not be given special concessions in respect of early release.
