Mortar Bomb 'Aimed Across Irish Border'

After an Irish army ordnance team made safe a mortar bomb in Co Louth on Tuesday night, it has emerged that Gardaí believe dissident republican group, Oglaigh na hEireann was behind the foiled bomb attack that was aimed at a target north of the border.

The bomb - which they said was primed to be used for an attack in Northern Ireland - was seized from a car going north on the N1 in Co Louth, near Dundalk.

The discovery was part of an operation by the Special Detective Unit and officers from Louth/Meath investigating the activities of dissident republicans.

Four men, who are from Northern Ireland, Dundalk and Dromiskin are being questioned in Drogheda, Balbriggan and Santry Garda stations.

Yesterday, the Stormont First and Deputy First Ministers (pictured) have paid tribute to Gardaí who discovered the devices.

Speaking in Co Tyrone, the DUP's Peter Robinson said he believed it was possible the bombs could have inflicted serious injury or death to targets in Northern Ireland.

He condemned the activities of dissident republicans, who, he said, wanted to drag Northern Ireland "back to the bad old days", and were unable to see that the region had 'moved on to a new era'.

Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness also described the activities of dissidents as "totally and absolutely futile" and said that it was important to encourage continued co-operation between Gardaí and the PSNI.

(BMcC/GK)