Two men are still being held for questioning today following a raid on a suspected dissident republican bomb making factory in Co Louth yesterday.
The men, aged in their 30s and 50s, were arrested and component parts of a potentially significant explosive device seized in the Garda operation in Dundalk at about 7pm yesterday.
Among the items discovered at the outbuilding in the Mount Pleasant area of the town were two large modified gas cylinders fixed onto a trailer.
The two are being held at Drogheda Garda station under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.
The co-ordinated raid involved officers from the Garda specialist detective unit, the emergency response unit and local gardaí.
Police on both sides of the Border have been working closely to thwart dissidents, with intelligence suggesting many bomb operations have been planned and prepared in the Republic.
The arrest scene remain sealed off pending further technical and forensic examinations this morning.
Speaking this afternoon, the Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern, noted the raid took place not far from his own house and said it was part of a campaign against dissidents that had been ongoing for some time. He said lives had been saved as a result of the operation.
It uncovered a "fairly major engineering operation" and reinforced the fact the threat from dissidents remained severe, the Minister said, adding although the numbers of dissidents were relatively small, their capability was increasing.
The threat from dissident republicans has now reached very dangerous levels, Fine Gael justice spokesman Charlie Flanagan said today.
"Confronting the dissident threat must be a priority for Government. Security experts have been warning in recent times of a realignment of dissident republicans. Dissident restructuring and recruitment pose a serious menace," he said.
"Both a political response and a security response are required."
Additional reporting PA