Five men are expected to appear in the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today charged in connection with the raid on a security van in Ashford, Co Wicklow, in which a man was shot dead by gardai.
The men, who were arrested under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and later held at Shankill and Bray Garda stations, are believed to be members of a dissident republican group.
Charges relating to firearms offences were read to them yesterday evening and they were detained in custody pending their appearance in court today.
The dead man has been identified as Mr Ronan McLoughlin (28), of Ballymun, Dublin. His mother, Ms Roisin McLoughlin, was accused of luring British soldiers to their deaths in a "honey trap" operation in Belfast in March 1973. An RUC application to extradite Ms McLoughlin in connection with the alleged murder of Sgt Michael Muldoon was rejected by the High Court in Dublin.
Mr McLoughlin was shot by members of the Garda Emergency Response Unit after it intervened in a raid on a Securicor van on the N11 in Co Wicklow, shortly after 5 p.m. on Friday.
The cash-in-transit van was travelling towards Dublin when it was stopped by a Ford transit van drawn across a narrow section of the road near the village of Ashford. A gang of armed men broke a window of the Securicor van but were interrupted by armed gardai. Mr McLoughlin was shot and died at the scene. Five men were arrested.
The Garda has confirmed that gardai opened fire after being confronted by six armed men who "pointed loaded weapons at them".
"In this situation, the armed gardai acted in accordance with Garda policy, shooting one of the armed raiders dead," said a statement from the Garda Press Office.
Initial reports that gardai had been fired on during the thwarted raid were "inaccurate", said the statement.
The body of Mr McLoughlin was taken to Loughlinstown hospital, where a post-mortem was carried out.