Man in court over dissident republican 'bomb factory'

A man will appear in court today over the discovery of a suspected major dissident republican bomb-making operation in Co Louth.

Two men were arrested and component parts of a potentially significant explosive device seized in Saturday night’s planned raid by gardaí in Dundalk.

One of the suspects, aged 52, is due to appear before Dublin’s Special Criminal Court.

The other man, aged 23, is still being questioned at Drogheda Garda Station under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.

Justice Minister Dermot Ahern has said lives were saved by the swoop at the outbuilding in the town’s Mount Pleasant area, in which officers uncovered a number of items including two large modified gas cylinders fixed on to a trailer.