Two men are due before a special sitting of Cork District Court later this evening in connection with an incident on Monday night in which a businessman and his family were held hostage in Co Cork.
The incident, in which a gang was trying to extort money from Gary O'Donovan, the owner of a major chain of off-licences in Cork city, has been connected to the IRA.
Two masked men broke into a house in Mount Oval Village, Rochestown, on the outskirts of the city at around 9pm on Monday night and held Mr O'Donovan's wife Katie hostage while they waited for her husband to return.
When he arrived home at 10pm, he was beaten and had a cloak placed over his head. They were held in separate rooms for five hours. However, the man guarding him upstairs fell asleep and Mr O'Donovan escaped to raise the alarm.
Gardaí from across Cork city surrounded the house and brought in a trained negotiator in the event of a hostage situation developing. They later arrested two men and recovered a handgun and a stun gun. A third man was arrested around noon yesterday in the Dublin area, a Garda spokesman said.
Mr O'Donovan required treatment in Cork University Hospital for a head wound and was later discharged. His wife, who is six months pregnant, was unharmed and the couple's four children slept through the ordeal.
The men arrested in Cork - one in his 30s and the other in his 40s - are being held in Togher garda station under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. A third man remains in custody.
It is understood two of those being held have links to the Provisional IRA.
The third member of the gang, who was arrested in Cork, is a native of Dundalk. While he is known to have republican sympathies, he has never been convicted of any paramilitary-related offences.