McCabe widow says SF and IRA are unjust to her

The widow of Det Garda Jerry McCabe has said it is unjust of Sinn Féin and the IRA to hold her hostage and make out she is standing in the way of the peace process.

Speaking to The Irish Times yesterday, Ms Ann McCabe said the Sinn Féin president, Mr Gerry Adams, was trying to diminish her grief and that of her family by continually saying on radio and television that her husband had been killed, rather than murdered.

"He can't even say the word murdered, not once has he said it," Ms McCabe said. Assertions by Mr Adams that many people in the North, including himself, had seen the killers of their friends and loved ones go free from prison early as part of the peace process did not relate to the case of her husband's killers.

"I don't know if any of Gerry Adams's family was killed in the Troubles and I can't speak for him. But let's be very clear about this and let me say this to Gerry Adams: Jerry was never part of the Good Friday agreement, never. If he was, then there would have been nothing we could have done about it, but he wasn't.

"It's unjust of Sinn Féin and the IRA to now hold me a hostage and make out I'm standing in the way of the peace process. We all signed up for peace, I voted for the Good Friday agreement because they [ her husband's killers] didn't come under it at the time. Their release was never on the table, as far I was concerned, during negotiations and I'm wondering now when it was put on the table."

Ms McCabe said she had recently received an e-mail from a former RUC officer, who said that if her husband's killers went free, then the Irish people could not trust Mr Ahern or the Irish Government again. "That about sums it up," she said.

She had met the Minister for Defence, Mr O'Dea, in Limerick on Friday and was "very disappointed" at the manner in which the Taoiseach had treated Mr O'Dea. "He said that he heard about it in the same way I did. I heard it on the news in the car.

"Willie O'Dea has been Limerick's first senior Minister for a long time, he's been very supportive and has done a lot for the city.

"I thought it was very bad that he found out in the way he did. He's the one who has to go around the constituency in Limerick and explain to people why these people are getting out".

She said she could not speak on behalf of Mr O'Dea but believed he was "disappointed" that the killers might be freed from jail.

When asked about the impact of her husband's death on her children, she said: "It's hard on all of them. They talk about letting prisoners out of jail on temporary release for Christmas, saying it's a time when people should be together and happy. Well, Christmas was always a joyous time in our house."