sentences:  An emergency Cabinet meeting was allegedly held the next day to discuss the assassination of Hales at which it was proposed that 4 prominent members of the Anti-Treaty side currently held as prisoners be executed as a reprisal & a warning, and the 4 names put forward were Richard, Rory O'Connor, Liam Mellows and Joe McKelvey.It has been alleged that the four were chosen to represent each of the four provinces – Munster, Connacht, Leinster and Ulster respectively, but none of the four was actually from Connacht.The executions were ordered by Justice Minister Kevin O'Higgins.