Gardai are continuing to search for explosives and stolen vehicles in Counties Meath and Kildare as part of a follow-up operation to searches carried out in the Dundalk area in the week of the Omagh bomb.
Gardai confirmed that intelligence gathered that week led to the focus shifting from Dundalk to Kilcock, Clane and the Meath/Kildare border.
A senior Garda source said the operation was not directly linked to the Omagh bomb, but had led them to "a very widespread car-stealing racket and the live possibility that some people were directly involved in stealing cars which were subsequently used or planned for use in bombings." A possible link with the car-bomb found at Dun Laoghaire port was part of the investigation.
The searches began near the Meath/Kildare border last Friday and this week spread to Clane. Gardai have so far failed to find any explosives. They did recover an airgun and what is thought to be an imitation revolver near Kilcock.
Up to 30 vehicles had been seized on suspicion of being stolen. A lot of these were being taken apart and were found in a breaker's yard. They included cars, a lorry and a digger. Gardai believed they were "stolen to order" by a Dublin-based gang. Several people have been arrested and interviewed. A file is expected to be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.