Gardaí detain suspected Real IRA man in Louth

A suspected leading member of the Real IRA is among five men arrested by gardaí in Co Louth.

They were detained following the seizure of a large quantity of what is believed to be explosives, near Hackballscross. The area has been sealed off.

The operation, which is on-going, involves gardaí from Dundalk, backed up by members of the Emergency Response Unit.

The five men are being held at a number of garda stations in the Louth-Meath Division, under Section 30 of the Offences Against The State Act.