The president of the Garda Representative Association has criticised the decision to grant temporary release to one of Garda Jerry McCabe's killers, allowing him to get married over the weekend.
Garda Mick Kirby said yesterday he was "deeply disappointed" that Pearse McCauley from Strabane, Co Tyrone, was let out of prison for four days to marry a Sinn Féin councillor, Ms Pauline Tully, in Co Cavan on Saturday.
"We have grave reservations about this development," Garda Kirby told The Irish Times yesterday. "We want these people to serve the sentences they were given and they seem to be getting out on temporary leave all too frequently. It is offensive to the family of Jerry McCabe and to his colleagues in the force."
McCauley (37) is serving a 14-year sentence in Castlerea Prison in Co Roscommon for the manslaughter of 52-year-old Garda McCabe in 1996. The father of five was shot dead during an attempted robbery at a post office in Adare, Co Limerick. Three other men are serving sentences in Castlerea for his manslaughter, and Sinn Féin has been campaigning for their early release under the Belfast Agreement.
While McCauley was given four days' compassionate leave, it is understood the authorities were not aware until after the leave was granted that he planned to get married.
During his four-day release he attended a stag party before the wedding in Ms Tully's local church of St Patrick's, Kilnaleck, Co Cavan.
The marriage was presided over by the retired parish priest of Kilnaleck, Mgr Patrick McManus. The reception for more than 100 guests was held at the Percy French Hotel in Ballyjamesduff. No senior members of Sinn Féin are believed to have attended the celebrations.
The couple met when Cllr Tully (32), a teacher at Cavan Vocational School, began visiting the prisoners as a member of a Sinn Féin delegation to Castlerea.
Mrs Ann McCabe, the widow of Garda McCabe, did not wish to comment on the matter yesterday but was said by friends to be "devastated" by the events of the weekend.
"It's very difficult to speak in a reserved way about something like this," she said on Saturday. "The gardaí do keep me informed of what is happening, but it's their decision (the couple), and we have to abide by it."
McCauley returns to prison today.