The three Irishmen arrested in Colombia are expected to be deported later this week, according to Government sources.
Lawyers for the three said that claims by the Colombian army last week that they had secret film of the three instructing Marxist guerrillas and that traces of explosives and drugs were found on their clothing were incorrect.
All three were travelling on false passports, and this is likely to be cited as the reason for their deportation. It is unclear where they will be sent.
One of the three, Mr Niall Connolly (36), originally from Co Dublin, said he was in Colombia studying the peace negotiations between the FARC guerrillas, who control part of the country, and the government.
At the weekend, Sinn Fein continued to deny any knowledge of the three despite the fact that two are fairly prominent party members as well as having convictions related to IRA offences.
Mr James Monaghan (54) had been working in north Dublin up to two months ago, employed on a State-funded FAS scheme to assist former IRA prisoners. He left the job, saying he intended to make an Irish language video, according to reports at the weekend.
Mr Martin McCauley (39), from Lurgan, Co Armagh, similarly made no comment about the purpose of his trip to Colombia.
Various theories were put forward in weekend newspapers on why an IRA group might have visited the part of Colombia controlled by the Marxist revolutionary group FARC, which also controls a large part of Colombia's drugs trade.
A number of papers claimed that the IRA was engaged in designing and testing a "fireball mortar" or a "fuel-air explosive" bomb. However, this type of explosive reaction has already been achieved by republican terrorists.
The "Real" IRA created this type of bomb and used it in the Omagh atrocity on August 15th, 1998. The explosion was, effectively, a huge fireball. All 29 people killed and the 300 injured suffered burns.
Two weeks before the Omagh bombing, the south Armagh republicans who made the device tested a similar bomb in an isolated part of the Cooley peninsula. That explosion caused scorching over a wide area.
The Omagh bomb had particularly destructive qualities because of its incendiary nature. Reports at the weekend quoted senior British security sources as expressing concern that the IRA was trying to incorporate the Omagh explosive mix in a large "barrack-buster mortar".
Security sources say there is still some confusion over the exact purpose of the IRA's links with FARC, but it is believed the groups have had contact over a number of years.
It is believed that FARC previously supplied cash to the IRA, which was used to buy arms in the United States before 1999. In July of that year the FBI intercepted the IRA's gunrunning route from Florida. An American citizen who was assisting the IRA had travelled to Colombia and Panama in the months before the Florida gunrunning.
It is known that FARC has only very rudimentary bombmaking skills, whereas the IRA is regarded as a sophisticated terrorist organisation in terms of its technical skills.