After eight years McCabe killers say sorry. Too late, says his widow

IT took an eternity to come - a full eight years and nine months after Detective Garda Jerry McCabe was shot dead as he sat in an unmarked patrol car, during an IRA armed robbery in Adare, Co Limerick.

Its timing was described as belated; its intentions as cyncial; its sentiment as “too little, too late”.

For, in reality, any prospect the four killers would benefit from early release under a final peace settlement evaporated completely once IRA involvement in the Northern Bank robbery became clear.