Gardai in Dundalk are investigating so called punishment beatings on two men in their early 20s on Tuesday night.
The IRA is believed to have been responsible for the attack by a gang of up to six men wearing balaclavas and carrying baseball bats.
Gardai said the two victims were sitting on a wall in Muirhevnamore at about 7.30 p.m. when a red Hiace van containing the gang pulled up.
The men were chased into a nearby house where they were beaten with baseball bats. Both men were detained overnight in the County Hospital. These are the first so called punishment beatings in the Border town since the end of last year.
