The Supreme Court has dismissed an application by two men jailed in connection with the post office robbery in which Det Garda Jerry McCabe was killed in 1996.
Michael O'Neill and John Quinn were seeking early release under the provisions of the Belfast Agreement. They were jailed following the botched robbery in Adare, Co Limerick.
They were appealing against a High Court decision to deny them early release.
During the appeal hearing in December, the Supreme Court was told the Government believed that public support for the Northern Ireland peace process would be undermined if the early release procedures available under the Agreement were made available to those convicted in connection with the events in Adare.
After the day-long hearing on December 9th, the five-judge court, presided over by the Chief Justice, Mr Justice Keane, reserved judgment.
O'Neill and Quinn, both detained at Castlerea prison, contend they are entitled to be freed under the Belfast Agreement of April 1998, which provided for a two-year period of release for qualifying prisoners expiring in July 2000.
O'Neill, an unemployed general operative, is serving 11 years for the manslaughter of Det McCabe; the malicious wounding of Det Garda Ben O'Sullivan at Adare, Co Limerick, on June 7th, 1996; and possession of firearms for the purpose of a robbery at Adare.
Quinn is serving a six-year sentence for conspiracy to commit a robbery at Adare in June 1996.