Garda commissioner Justin Kelly confirmed the details of the operation on Friday. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PAView image in fullscreenGarda commissioner Justin Kelly confirmed the details of the operation on Friday. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PAWoman and man arrested in Ireland after police intercept ‘highly sophisticated’ bombDetectives targeting dissident republicans stopped a vehicle containing explosives near Carrickmacross
Two people have been arrested after police in Ireland targeting dissident republicans intercepted an “extremely significant” bomb that was being transported in a vehicle near the border.
Members of the Garda Síochána’s special detective unit stopped the vehicle travelling on the N2 south of Carrickmacross, County Monaghan on Wednesday afternoon.
Gardaí then requested the assistance of the Irish Defence Forces EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) team, which completed an examination of the vehicle.
It is understood the device found contained suspected military grade explosives.
Garda sources have described the bomb as “highly sophisticated” and “advanced”.
The vehicle’s driver, a woman in her 20s, was arrested at the scene and remained in Garda custody on Friday.
Another suspect, a man in his 40s, has since been arrested and is being held at a Garda station in the Dublin area.
Garda commissioner Justin Kelly confirmed details of the operation as he spoke to media at a Garda graduation event in County Tipperary on Friday.
“To be clear, what we found was an extremely significant seizure,” he said.
Kelly added: “Any seizure of this nature is really concerning.
“However, we certainly know that there are a small minority of dissident republicans who did not agree with the Good Friday agreement, they did not put weapons and explosives [out of use], they didn’t, you know, go through with the proper process in relation to decommissioning.
“So that is something that we continue to deal with.
“There’s a small minority of these individuals, I would describe them as radicalised republicans, and this is a threat that we’re going to continue to face for some time in An Garda Síochána.
“We work very closely with our colleagues in PSNI [Police Service of Northern Ireland] and the intelligence services in the UK to deal with this threat.
“But I want to commend the members of An Garda Síochána who are involved in this operation.”
