Within a month of the IRA declaring its 1994 ceasefire, the Garda and the Irish government were growing increasingly concerned that IRA weaponry might find its way into the hands of organised criminals, files declassified in Belfast show. During the meeting in London on September 15th 1994, Sir John said he discussed paramilitary disarmament with the senior Irish official. During their conversation the two officials discussed the possibility of “a deal between INLA and Republican Sinn Féin whereby the former would endow the latter with the weapons they were certainly seeking”. Dalton told Sir John that Gerry Adams “had requested the Irish government for special dispensation in respect of 11 prisoners... Dalton hinted there might soon be progress under the law and order pillar of the Maastricht treaty, but was not willing to be specific.

Source: The Irish Times December 29, 2020 11:03 UTC