Car bomb intercepted by police in Co Monaghan near Irish border
An “extremely important” car bomb was seized while in transit near the Irish border in an operation targeting dissident republicans, gardaí said.
Members of the Garda’s Special Detective Unit stopped the vehicle traveling on the N2 south of Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, on Wednesday afternoon.
Gardaí then requested assistance from the Irish Defense Forces EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team, who completed an inspection of the vehicle.
The device found is understood to contain suspected military-grade explosives, with Garda sources describing the bomb as “extremely complex” and “sophisticated”.
The female driver of the vehicle, aged 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 when he spoke to the media at a Garda graduation event in Co Tipperary on Friday.
“To be clear, what we found was an extremely significant seizure,” he said.
“So it was an explosive device.”
Commissioner Kelly added: “Any seizure of this nature is truly concerning.
“But we certainly know that there is a small minority of dissenting republicans who do not accept the Good Friday Agreement, who do not decommission weapons and explosives, who do not carry out the appropriate process for decommissioning.
“So this is something we continue to grapple with.
“There is a small minority of these people, I would describe them as radical republicans, and that is a threat we will continue to face in An Garda Síochána for some time to come.
“We are working very closely with the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) and our colleagues in the intelligence services in the UK to deal with this threat.
“But I would like to commend the members of An Garda Síochána who participated in this operation.”
Irish Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan described the seizure as “very concerning”.
“I think this is very meaningful,” he said.
“I have been briefed on this by the (Garda) Commissioner. I think it proves the fact that there is an ongoing threat in terms of dissident republican activity.”
“But I also know that there is great collaboration between the PSNI and An Garda Síochána, and I think recent developments and the work of An Garda Síochána show the benefits of having such close collaboration between the PSNI and An Garda Síochána.”
The minister, who also attended the Garda graduation ceremony in Co Tipperary, added: “It’s very worrying. But I think what encouraged me was that the gardaí were able to catch the suspect.”
“The device was, I believe, procured for gardaí and it was neutralized. So there are a lot of issues of concern around that. But I also want to commend gardaí for the work they have done to ensure that this does not become a real threat to the public.”
He said there was undoubtedly a “continuing threat” from dissenting republicanism.
“We need to accept that and what happened (at Carrickmacross) is proof of that,” Mr O’Callaghan said.
