Gardaí will today continue to search a farm in Co Kildare housing a suspected bomb-making factory that was uncovered yesterday.
Gardaí investigating the activities of dissident republicans arrested five men as part of the operation, which involved gardaí from the special detective unit, local gardaí and members of the emergency response unit.
The suspected bomb factory, understood to contain mortar tubes along with components associated with the manufacture of pipe bombs, was located on a farm at Quinnsboro near Monasterevin, Co Kildare.
The men aged in their 20s, 40s and 50s were arrested in the Monasterevin area during the operation. They are being held at Naas, Tullamore and Newbridge Garda stations under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and remain in custody this evening. They can be held for three days. Items discovered are not thought to have included any primed or completed viable explosive devices.