The British authorities have dropped plans to extradite two IRA men who escaped from London's Brixton prison 18 years ago.
The Crown Prosecution Service said it was no longer preparing a case against Pearse McAuley and Nessan Quinlivan.
The pair were awaiting trial on conspiracy to murder brewery boss Charles Tidbury and explosives charges when they shot their way out of Brixton in July 1991.
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In a statement the CPS said: "Having reviewed these cases, the CPS has decided there is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction."
The CPS also said it was no longer seeking prosecution of two other men Andrew Martin and Anthony Duncan.
Release
The move comes following the release of Pearse McAuley from an Irish jail on Wednesday after serving ten years for killing a garda detective during a robbery.
Both McAuley and Quinlivan had been arrested on an extradition warrant in 1995 and while McAuley went on to serve a sentence for killing the garda detective, Quinlivan fought the case.
McAuley and another man, Kevin Walsh, were part of a Provisional gang which pleaded guilty to killing Jerry McCabe in a high-profile trial hit by witness intimidation.
Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said McAuley and Walsh had apologised for Det Gda McCabe's killing and should have been granted early release under the Good Friday Agreement.
"In a public statement some years ago the IRA members convicted in relation to Jerry McCabe's death and the wounding of Garda Ben O'Sullivan, expressed their deep regret and apologised for the 'hurt and grief we have caused to their families'," the west Belfast MP said.
"I believe that this apology was genuine and it echoes the sentiments of republicans everywhere.
"I deeply regret the great loss and hurt suffered by the McCabe and O'Sullivan families.
"The release of Kevin Walsh and Pearse McCauley comes at the end of their sentences, despite them being qualifying IRA prisoners under the Good Friday Agreement."
Outrage
But the DUP's Jeffrey Donaldson has expressed outrage at the CPS' decision.
"Pearse McAuley is someone who escaped while serving a sentence in prison. During the course of his escape he discharged firearms," he said.
"These are criminal offences for which there is clear evidence. I'm at a loss to understand the reason for the decision by the CPS and I'm bound to say that it smacks of political interference.
"It's difficult to escape the conclusion that somewhere, somebody has made political representations and some kind of deal has been done."
McAuley, from Strabane, served three quarters of a 14 year manslaughter sentence with time off for remission.
Walsh, a senior IRA figure from Patrickswell, Co Limerick, was believed to have fired the fatal shots.
Det Gda McCabe was gunned down in a hail of bullets as the IRA gang held-up an An Post van in the Co Limerick village of Adare, in June 1996. He was shot 15 times from a Kalashnikov assault rifle.
© Press Association