'Extremely significant' car bomb is stopped by police crossing border into Northern Ireland as trainee lawyer in her 20s is arrested behind the wheel

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 07:28 EDT, 24 July 2026 | Updated: 07:58 EDT, 24 July 2026 An 'extremely significant' bomb has been intercepted in a vehicle in transit near the Irish border in an operation targeting dissident republicans, police said today.In an intelligence-led swoop, the Garda's Special Detective Unit stopped the vehicle on Wednesday afternoon on the N2 south of Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan.Gardaí then requested the assistance of the Irish Defence Forces EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team, which completed an examination of the vehicle.It is understood the device found contained suspected military grade explosives. Garda sources have described the bomb as 'highly sophisticated' and 'advanced'.The vehicle's female driver, a trainee solicitor aged in her 20s, was arrested at the scene and remained in Garda custody today.Another suspect, a man aged in his 40s, has since been arrested and is being held at a Garda station in the Dublin area.Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly confirmed details of the operation as he spoke to media at a Garda graduation event in Co Tipperary today.'To be clear, what we found was an extremely significant seizure,' he said. 'So this was an explosive device.' Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly speaks to reporters today in Templemore, Co TipperaryCommissioner Kelly added: 'Any seizure of this nature is really concerning.'However, we certainly know that there are a small minority of dissident republicans who did not agree with the Good Friday Agreement, they did not put weapons and explosives (out of use), they didn't, you know, go through with the proper process in relation to decommissioning. So that is something that we continue to deal with.'There's a small minority of these individuals, I would describe them as radicalised republicans, and this is a threat that we're going to continue to face for some time in An Garda Síochána.'We work very closely with our colleagues in PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) and the intelligence services in the UK to deal with this threat. But I want to commend the members of An Garda Síochána who are involved in this operation.'Mr Kelly also indicated that the bomb was already constructed when it was seized.'Unfortunately for operational reasons, I can't go into the exact detail of the device,' he said. 'But what I will say certainly it was a significant explosive device. So certainly not just the seizure of components or pieces.'This was an explosive device and it would have or could have potentially caused significant damage.'The commissioner confirmed the operation relied on intelligence. 'Obviously, this was not a random stop,' he said.'Obviously, this is an intelligence-led operation, so we certainly do have information in relation to the individuals involved. But, naturally, I can't go into a lot of that in public.'Carrickmacross is about six miles (10km) from the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.Sporadic attacks by militant groups, often attempted car bombings, continue in Northern Ireland almost three decades since a peace deal largely ended sectarian violence.