Paul Ward was about to be transferred from prison to hospital after refusing solid food.

Ward: Mystified authorities

Ward, 34, convicted in November of the killing of Ms Guerin, had had no solid nourishment since early December.

His decision to end the fast is understood to have followed a lengthy visit from his mother.

The Irish Independent newspaper reported that he had lost 21lb in weight.

Ward's behaviour has mystified the authorities. A spokesman for the Republic's Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform said he had denied being on hunger strike and made no demands to prison authorities.

Had Ward been transferred to hospital, he would have posed a serious security risk. Before he ended the fast, arrangements had been made to provide round-the-clock armed guards and soldiers in the ground to prevent any escape attempts.

Ward, a former heroin addict, was jailed for life after being found guilty of shooting Ms Guerin in her car on the outskirts of Dublin in June 1996.

Ms Guerin, 37, had become a high-profile investigative journalist who had attempted to expose organised crime in Ireland. Her murder shocked the nation.

Ireland's police and politicians launched their biggest drive yet against organised crime in the wake of the killing.

Ward, a self-confessed member of an organised drugs gang, has been held at Ireland's top-security Portlaoise Prison, 50 miles from Dublin, since his conviction.