It is expected that nine men arrested at a suspected Continuity IRA training camp in north Co Waterford on Sunday will be released or charged later today.
The nine are being held at Garda stations in Waterford, Cahir, Clonmel and Thomastown after the discovery of arms and ammunition in a remote forest area at Knocknaree near the Comeragh Mountains.
Gardaí have the option of extending their detention for a further 24 hours from 3.45 p.m. this afternoon.
However, Garda sources said it was more likely that interviews would be completed before the end of today.
It was confirmed yesterday that gardaí had been lying in wait for several hours for the men, who were nine in number and not 10 as previously reported by the Garda.
The men were observed setting up targets at a clearing in the forest and firing a number of rounds, before being apprehended.
Gardaí said there was no confrontation, although two of the men did try unsuccessfully to run from the scene.
Chief Supt Sean O'Halloran, of Waterford Garda station, said: "Any time there are firearms involved there is a potential danger. But I don't think anyone was in immediate danger during the operation."
The armed Emergency Response Unit provided cover to officers from the anti-terrorist Special Detective Unit and the National Surveillance Unit.
They were assisted in the operation by gardaí from the Kilkenny-Waterford division.
The two rifles and two shotguns seized at the scene, along with hundreds of rounds of ammunition, have been sent to forensic laboratories in Dublin for examination by the Garda Technical Bureau.
The arrests followed a period of several months of undercover surveillance work in which information was gathered on suspected dissident republican activity in the area.
The operation was overseen by Assistant Commissioner Joe Egan, head of Crime and Security at Garda Headquarters, in association with the regional commander, Assistant Commissioner Dick Kelly.
Searches continued at the site yesterday, but no additional weapons were recovered.
Describing the area as "very remote and hidden", Chief Supt O'Halloran remarked: "You could spend months up there and see nobody, and nobody would see you."
The densely forested area surrounding the clearing was said to have muffled the sound of shotgun fire.
Two of the men are from Co Limerick, two from Co Wexford, three from Waterford city and two from Co Waterford. The youngest is in his early 20s, the eldest in his early 50s.
A 10-year-old boy, understood to be the son of one of the men, was also at the scene but was not arrested.
Gardaí said they believed all the men were aligned to the dissident republican group, the Continuity IRA, which is known to be trying to recruit new members as part of an effort to destabilise the peace process.
