GARDAI MAKE SEVERAL ARRESTS IN WEXFORD AND OTHER AREAS OVER DISSIDENT ACTIVITY
Gardai are continuing to detain four men in a major crackdown on Republican dissidents ahead of the visit of Prince Charles next week.
Yesterday they discovered a suspect device in Courtown in North Wexford, as part of the investigation.
The Army Bomb disposal team spent several hours decommisioning devices found in a housing estate there, where its understood hundreds of pounds of explosives were uncovered.
Other searches and arrests were also carried out in Louth and Dublin.
It’s understood a leading figure in the Republican movement was arrested.
The four men who were arrested are being held over alleged offences including directing terrorism, membership of an unlawful organisation, and possession of explosives.
Conor Feehan of the Herald newspaper says Gardai may have prevented a serious attack during the visit of Prince Charles.
“The fact that this material is there and it took the bomb disposal team a number of hours yesterday working in different parts of the country to make the various different devices safe and material safe, we don’t know for sure if these were being put together or built for a specific purpose” he said.
“But certainly there would be fears that if they had the capability to put this together, that it could have been used in the coming days” he added.
