Suspected Irish dissidents arrested

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Six men and a woman are being held as part of a crackdown on suspected republican activities opposed to the Northern Ireland peace process.

"The arrests are part of the ongoing investigation into subversive activities," a police spokesman said. The suspects are being held under the Offences Against the State Act, which allows them to be held for up to 72 hours.

Police declined to comment on reports that the seven were connected to the splinter groups the Continuity IRA and the Real IRA.

The Irish Independent newspaper said one man was suspected to be the director of operations of the Real IRA, which carried out the Omagh bombing of 1998 and is believed to be responsible for last month's rocket attack in London on the offices of Britain's MI6 intelligence services.

Police said the latest arrest was in the town of Dundalk, close to the border, on Tuesday evening. One man was seized and is being detained in the town.

That followed the arrest of another man in an early morning raid in Dundalk on Tuesday. He is being held in a police station in the town of Kells, 50 miles (80 km) north west of Dublin.

Four men and a woman were arrested on Monday in the area around Cavan and Monaghan, close to the Northern Ireland border.

Mainstream groups are holding to ceasefires in Northern Ireland as part of a peace process for the British province.

But splinter groups have mounted sporadic bomb attacks and localised violence and intimidation continue.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Northern Ireland Office
RUC - Northern Ireland's Police Force

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