A garda sergeant who has been suspended from duty since 1998 and a man from Northern Ireland who has been living in the Republic are due to appear before the Special Criminal Court in Dublin this morning on Official Secrets Act charges relating to the issuing of false passports.
One of the passports carried the photograph of an IRA member suspected of a murder in Co Down in 1994 after the first IRA ceasefire.
Detectives last night arrested the two men after an 18-month investigation into the issuing of false documents to the IRA in Co Louth.
The sergeant, who is in his early 40s, was suspended in 1998 after a passport issued in a false name was discovered during the search for an IRA man suspected of murdering the Newry postal worker, Mr Frank Kerr, in December 1994. After the murder, the then Minister for Justice, Ms Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, temporarily suspended the early release of IRA prisoners from Portlaoise Prison.
It was discovered that the passport application and photographs had been endorsed by a garda serving in the Border area. It then emerged that other documents had been forged, apparently on behalf of IRA figures in the Border area.
After the discovery of the passport, a serving Garda sergeant and a retired sergeant were arrested on September 30th, 1998. They were held for questioning for a day at Navan Garda Station and then released while investigations continued.
Last year a Co Down man was arrested and questioned about the passport and later released.
Last night gardai confirmed that two men had been arrested and were held under the Official Secrets Act.
Both were brought to the Bridewell Garda Station in Dublin last night and are expected to appear before the Special Criminal Court this morning.