Seven men were being questioned by gardai last night about suspected membership of the Continuity IRA. The men had earlier been attending the ardfheis of Republican Sinn Fein in Drogheda, Co Louth. They were held in garda stations in Trim, Navan, Kells and Ashbourne, Co Meath.
Garda sources confirmed that the men detained were members of Republican Sinn Fein and were attending the party's ardfheis.
The men are from Limerick, Dublin, Westmeath, Donegal and Northern Ireland, and were arrested under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act on suspicion of membership of an unlawful organisation.
Garda sources said the men detained did not have links with the so-called "Real IRA" or the Provisional IRA. In the past, Republican Sinn Fein has been linked to the Continuity IRA, which is the only republican paramilitary grouping that has not called a ceasefire.
Meanwhile, senior security sources do not expect any decommissioning of IRA weapons before next year at the earliest despite weekend reports that the IRA leadership is contemplating such a move.
And IRA sources, quoted on RTE yesterday, rejected the suggestion the organisation was about to hand over weapons.
Three Sunday newspapers carried reports suggesting the IRA was about to hold one of its "general army" conventions to discuss decommissioning. According to Garda sources there has been no sign of the preliminary IRA regional meetings that usually precede a "general army" meeting like the one held this time last year to discuss Sinn Fein's participation in a Stormont Assembly.
The sources also say there is no known immediate prospect of decommissioning of weapons by the IRA or by other paramilitary organisations in the North. The IRA has stated on at least three occasions when speculation about imminent decommissioning has arisen that it will not give up its weapons prior to a "final settlement" in Northern Ireland. Its conditions for such a settlement include the disbandment of the RUC, withdrawal of the British army and the establishment of a Northern Assembly with cross-Border institutions and Sinn Fein executive membership.
However, it is understood that a "general army" meeting will have to be convened in the event of these conditions being met. The weekend newspaper reports suggested that such a meeting was imminent. Senior Garda sources said they had no such indications.