Police arrest three men over bugged CIRA leadership meetings

THREE men have been arrested in relation to dissident republican terrorist activity.

The arrests are part of the same investigation that resulted in the arrest of twelve people in the Ardcarn Park area of Newry on Monday November 10.

Seven of those males were charged with various terrorism offences and have since appeared in court.

Among those arrested and charged was senior dissident republican Patrick Joseph ‘Mooch’ Blair, who has been linked to the Omagh bomb atrocity in August 1998 which killed 29 people and two unborn children.

A court heard last month that the house at Ardcarn Park had been bugged by MI5 officers.

Acting on a warrant signed by Secretary of State Theresa Villiers, MI5 technical officers broke into the home to plant hi-tech listening devices.

The bugs had been in place for three months while senior Continuity IRA figures met to discuss terror tacticts, the court heard.

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