Suspected members of the army council of the Continuity IRA, the dissident republican group, have been arrested and detained in Limerick Garda stations, according to local Garda sources. A Republican Sinn FΘin spokesman has denied that those arrested had any link with the Continuity IRA.
A meeting of the party was disrupted on Monday evening when nine men were arrested. In a follow-up operation, a Limerick woman was arrested yesterday morning and also detained under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.
A senior member of the party is believed to be among the activists arrested during the meeting in the Ballynanty area of the city when new members were being enlisted.
The 10 people are being questioned on suspicion of being members of Continuity IRA, a proscribed group. They can be held for an initial 24 hours and their period of detention was extended by a further 24 hours last night.
"At this point, it is at an investigative stage," a Garda spokesman said. The men arrested are from Limerick, Clare, Tipperary and Kildare. Republican Sinn FΘin accused garda∅ of harassment.
Six house searches were also carried out in Galway city and county as part of ongoing Garda investigations into CIRA activity.