No shots fired in dissident-republican swoop: Garda source

Detectives were continuing to quiz five men today as part of an ongoing operation against dissident republican activity close to the Border.

A Garda source dismissed reports the men were carrying explosives into the North and that there were shots fired during an incident in the Omeath area of Co Louth.

“There were no explosives,” he said. “We fired no shots and there is no evidence of shots being fired at us.”

The five men were travelling in three cars when they were stopped and detained. They are being held under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.

Two are being held at Dundalk garda station, two at Drogheda garda station and one man is being questioned at Balbriggan garda station, in north Dublin.

After being briefed on the operation yesterday by Garda Commissioner Fachnta Murphy, Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said he was taking seriously the security threat from dissidents.

Mr Ahern met his Stormont counterpart Justice Minister David Ford on Friday at Carlingford, Co Louth, near where the arrests took place later that evening.

The pair held talks about cross-Border policing co-operation and a crackdown on cross-Border criminality.