A MAN reputed to be the head of the IRA in Munster has been arrested for questioning about the murder of Det Garda Jerry McCabe in Adare, Co Limerick, last Friday.
The man, who is in his 40s and lives in Co Limerick, was one of five people being detained by gardai in two stations in Limerick city last night.
He was detained at Henry Street with another man and a woman, also from Limerick. A man and his wife were being questioned at Roxboro Road Garda station.
The five include a former IRA prisoner who was arrested in Rathkeale, Co Limerick, on Saturday night.
Three women and a man arrested on Friday in Limerick, Shannon and Co Monaghan were released without charge.
The intensive Garda hunt for the killers of Garda McCabe is still focused on the Munster IRA unit, despite apparent suggestions to the contrary from Government and Opposition sources.
The IRA denial that any of its members was involved in the murder was also disputed by IRA sources in Belfast yesterday. The sources indicated that high profile republicans from Munster were involved.
The Belfast republicans also felt there would be no "disciplinary" measures by the IRA against Det Garda McCabe's killers.
The Munster IRA unit contains some of the best known and most militant figures in the IRA. One of its members - a man who was released from custody in the past six months - was given a loud welcome by Sinn Fein members when he arrived at the party's ard fheis last February.
Other members include a man who was arrested while trying to attack British military targets on the Continent. He is being sought by gardai.
Republican sources in Belfast confirmed that a Munster unit led by senior IRA figures was behind the killing.
They said that the men involved were members of an officially approved IRA unit and did not belong to a breakaway faction.
"These are seasoned IRA activists who are respected in the republican movement," one source said. He said their evident access to IRA arms showed they were not rebels outside the movement.
But he said they had seemingly been indifferent to the effects the incident would have on the peace process.
"I don't think that Gerry Adams's difficulties are first and foremost in their minds," he added. "They would be out to do what they had to do."
He believed they had not intended to kill Det Garda McCabe, however, and pointed out that the IRA's rulebook, the Green Book, forbids members from opening fire on gardai.
Several republican sources said that harsh disciplinary action against the leaders of the unit was unlikely. The IRA members involved were of too high a standing for that. There was no question of the army council ordering their execution.
Commenting on the official IRA denial, the source said: "The leadership has spoken. It has said that it wasn't involved in the killing and let's hope that is the end of the matter.
Mr Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein said the party's leadership accepted the IRA statement that it was not involved in the murder of Det Garda McCabe.
He offered condolences to Det Garda McCabe's family.
A Sinn Fein source said the IRA could not under any circumstances admit it carried out the incident. "Even if the IRA expressed regret and said it was an operation which went wrong, there would be complete political upheaval," he said. "Our relationship with Dublin would be placed under severe strain."
Garda sources are also emphatic that the Munster IRA is not a "fringe" or "renegade" element. One officer said the Limerick unit was "part of the IRA's backbone".
The Limerick unit, besides carrying out up to 30 robberies or attempted robberies in the past five years and raising large sums of money, also has charge of the bulk of the IRA's substantial arsenal.
It maintains the arms bunkers and supplies weapons northwards to what the IRA terms the "war zone", comprising Northern Ireland and the Border counties of the Republic.
Members of the unit are known to have close contact, in one case through marriage, with another IRA unit in the Longford Westmeath area. It is believed the Limerick unit moves weapons up to this unit which then transports the weapons to the Border area.
The Munster IRA also infiltrated the gardai in Limerick by having Denis Kelly, one of its members, from Mallow, Co Cork, join the force. He passed information to the IRA about planned arms searches.
After Kelly's arrest in 1991, the Garda mounted one of its largest and most successful arms searches. More than 50,000 rounds of ammunition, about 160 guns and an array of bombs and rockets were found in the Munster area.
Det Garda McCabe's funeral takes place at Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Ennis Road, Limerick, at 11 a.m. today.
The attendance will include the President and the Taoiseach.
Armed Garda and Army personnel are continuing to mount a massive manhunt in the Munster area for the killers.