Explosives cache found in Dublin

Irish police have found one-and-a-half tons of explosives in Dublin and arrested four people.

Police said the home-made explosives were being stored at Howth, a fishing port on the northern edge of Dublin Bay.

One of those arrested is believed to have links to a breakaway republican group, the 32 County Sovereignty Committee.

The existence of the group was revealed last month by Bernadette Sands McKevitt, whose brother Bobby became a republican hero when he died on hunger strike in jail in Northern Ireland 16 years ago.

She told Irish radio the group was formed in response to frustration with the republican movement about the direction of the eight-party peace process.

"Basically a lot of people got concerned about the way the situation was developing," she said.

"This is a one-issue, broad-based committee. It is trying to attract nationalist-minded people from right across the board."

She added: "What is now on offer is more or less a modernised version of partition. So therefore we feel it is not actually a solution. I would be fearful for future generations."

Ms Sands McKevitt said she was Vice-President of the 32 County Sovereignty Committee.

Sinn Fein has dismissed the organisation as "just a small group."

"We are happy that our organisation is stable and solid," it said.