We made no Colombia Three deal, says Taoiseach

The Taoiseach has denied any deal involving the Columbia Three was done in return for the IRA's decision to end its war.

Bertie Ahern's insisted the men were never discussed during talks with Sinn Féin prior to the release of the recent IRA statement.

Speaking in Kerry he said he had no knowledge that Jim Monaghan, Niall Connolly and Martin McCauley had returned here until the news broke on Friday.

Mr Ahern maintains it's in the hands of the gardaí and the DPP.

“Whether they’re on the run or not, I assume that offences that they may or may not be responsible for will be matters the gardaí will look at,” the Taoiseach said.

"Of course any prosecutions in the normal way will be taken up by the independent DPP office”, Mr Ahern added.