Gardaí and PSNI investigate if suspect explosive devices intended for attacks on asylum seeker accommodation

The Garda Security & Intelligence Service is understood to have put more resources into preventing and identifying any emergence of violent right-wing or left-wing extremist organisations. Picture: Stock

Gardaí and the PSNI are investigating if four suspect explosive devices, seized in the North, were possibly intended for use in terrorist-type attacks on asylum seeker accommodation.

Two men were arrested by the garda anti-terrorism unit early Wednesday on suspicion of being members of an unlawful organisation — specifically a violent right-wing organisation.

They are understood to be the first arrests relating to a violent right-wing organisation in Ireland.

Garda HQ views the arrests, and the seizure, as a significant development in the emergence of violent right-wing extremism in Ireland, on the back of rising anti-immigrant and far-right protests, rioting, and arson attacks in recent years.

“This is of concern, but probably inevitable in the current climate,” one source said.

The extremist organisation is believed to have been set up relatively recently with only a small number of members.

The Garda Security & Intelligence Service is understood to have put more resources into preventing and identifying any emergence of violent right-wing or left-wing extremist organisations, with all its agencies on increased alert.

The two suspects, aged 34 and 38, were under surveillance. One of them is from the North, and the other man is thought not to be Irish. The Special Detective Unit swooped on the pair in their car in the Abbeyleix area of Co Laois in the early hours of Wednesday. 

Officers seized a number of suspicious items that supported arrest for suspected membership of an unlawful organisation under the Offences Against the State Act.

'Concerning but not surprising'

The PSNI later searched an address linked to one of the men in Annalong, along the Down coast. A PSNI statement said: “Officers initially discovered suspicious objects inside the house, with four suspect devices then located in the garden."

Investigators will try and link the suspects to the items and unravel what their intent might have been. Far-right watchers have identified individuals and small groups increasingly talking online about violence and arming themselves with, and training in, firearms.

Ciarán O’Connor, an analyst at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, said: “While we are awaiting further information about the group and arrests, the potential for organised violent right-wing extremist activity is extremely concerning but not surprising. It is becoming a real threat to our democracy and the safety and security of everyone.” 

The developments come as the anti-extremism group, Hope and Courage Collective, publishes research documenting 38 arson incidents, along with eight threats/hoaxes, relating to the provision of asylum seeker accommodation between 2018 and 2025. It peaked in 2024 with 19 arson incidents.

“Online behaviour is a strong predictor of real-world violence,” said Edel McGinley, the collective's executive director. 

“We are seeing a rise in fire emojis, ‘climate change’ jokes, and other coded dog whistles used to celebrate or encourage arson. These are not random comments, but signals that form part of a recognisable pattern.”