‘Extremely significant’ car bomb ‘being driven across NI border’ intercepted as woman, 20s, & man, 40s, lifted

AN “extremely significant” bomb has been intercepted by gardai probing an alleged cross-border bomb plot in Northern Ireland this week.

The “sophisticated” military-grade explosive device was found in a vehicle during a major operation near Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan last Wednesday.

Gardai believe the device was being driven across the border for an attack in Northern Ireland.

The search was part of an operation by the Special Detective Unit targeting dissident republican activity.

Gardai stopped the vehicle travelling south of Carrickmacross on the busy N2 road at around 3pm on Wednesday.

The Army Bomb Disposal team was called to the scene to make the device safe before it was removed for a forensic examination.

Gardai said the bomb had been fully assembled and was ready to use.

The driver of the car, a woman in her 20s, was arrested at the scene and is being detained under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.

A man in his 40s has since also been arrested and can be questioned for up to three days under the same legislation.

Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly confirmed details of the operation as he spoke to media at a Garda graduation event in Co Tipperary today.

He said: “To be clear, what we found was an extremely significant seizure.

“So this was an explosive device.”

It is understood the device seized contained suspected military grade explosives.

Garda sources have described the bomb as “highly sophisticated” and “advanced”.

Speaking to reporters in Co Tipperary, Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly said: “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.”