Nine men are being questioned by Irish police over dissident republican activities.
Six were arrested in Barnstown, County Wexford, where bomb making components were recovered.
Two others were arrested in Dunleer, County Louth, after a gun and ammunition were found.
A ninth man was arrested by Gardai in Waterford. All nine are being held under the Offences against the State Act in the Republic of Ireland.
They can be held for questioning for three days.
There have been a number of dissident republican bomb attacks in recent weeks.
On Monday, the Real IRA left a bomb close to the Ulster Bank on Londonderry’s Culmore Road. The bank and several shops were damaged. Non-one was injured in the attack.
In August, a car containing 200lb of explosives went off outside Strand Road police station in the city, causing substantial damage.
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