Irish police find explosive device in car near Northern Ireland border

Irish police said on Friday that they found an explosive device in a vehicle near the border with Northern Ireland during an operation targeting what they described as dissident republican activity.

Police said they stopped the car on Wednesday and arrested the driver, a woman in her 20s. They later arrested a man in his 40s in connection with the investigation.

Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly said the discovery was an "extremely significant seizure" and confirmed that it was an explosive device. He said any seizure of that kind was concerning and suggested the case was linked to Irish republican dissidents. He said the device could potentially have caused significant damage.

Irish broadcaster RTE reported, citing police sources, that the bomb was being transported to Northern Ireland and was expected to be used as an under-car explosive for an attack. The Garda told AFP it could not provide further details and declined to confirm reports that the device was being taken to the border city of Derry.

Northern Ireland experienced civil conflict between pro-Irish republicans and pro-UK unionists until the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. The agreement required rival paramilitaries to decommission their weapons, but dissident factions remain on both sides.

The source said dissident republican groups are smaller than the Provisional Irish Republican Army, which ended its violent campaign in 2005, but have used improvised explosive devices and mortars in past attacks.

Kelly said a small minority of people he described as radicalised republicans remained a threat that authorities would continue to face. Earlier this year, Northern Irish police blamed dissident republicans for two attacks on police stations near Belfast that caused no casualties.