Security sources say it is believed the device was being transported to a target in Northern Ireland

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Five men remain in custody in the Irish Republic over the discovery of a bomb close to the border with Northern Ireland.

The arrests north of Dundalk, Co Louth, were part of a long-term surveillance operation against republican dissident terrorist activity. The men, aged between 50 and 70, are being held under the Offences Against the State Act, the Republic's anti-terrorism laws.

The area where the bomb was discovered has been sealed off and the device is being dealt with by an Irish army bomb disposal unit.

The device was found after armed Garda officers stopped a car near Kilcurry on Sunday night.

A beer keg in the vehicle was allegedly found to contain the components for a large improvised explosive device.

Security sources in the Republic said it was believed that the bomb was being transported to a target in Northern Ireland.

The Garda Síochána have had a string of successes against anti-ceasefire republican terror groups in the past year. Planned attacks by the new IRA, Continuity IRA and Óghlaigh na hÉireann have either been thwarted or their devices have only partially exploded.

The most potentially lethal attack took place just before Christmas when a bomb exploded as police officers were clearing the cathedral area of Belfast after a telephone warning. The republican dissident group Óglaigh na hÉireann claimed responsibility for the device.

Separately, a former Real IRA prisoner is to become a member of the new Derry-Strabane district council in Northern Ireland following local elections last Thursday. Gary Donnelly topped the poll in a working-class Moor ward of Derry, where the new IRA alliance has a base.