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2 charged after Irish terror sweep

By the CNN Wire Staff
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • NEW: Two men apepared before Dublin's Special Criminal Court Sunday
  • A woman is detained hours after a series of other arrests
  • Nine were held earlier in the Republic of Ireland
  • Bomb-making equipment and weapons are also seized

(CNN) -- Two men arrested in Ireland under anti-terrorism laws have been charged and appeared in court Sunday, Irish police said.

They were among a group of 10 people detained in connection with dissident republican activity, police said Saturday.

Nicholas Kendall of Wexford was charged with unlawful possession of a semi-automatic pistol, ammunition and a bomb part, authorities said. The other man, 33-year-old Peter Butterly of Cortown, was charged with being a member of the Irish Republican Army.

The bomb part was for a timing power unit used in an improvised explosive device, the Special Criminal Court heard. Detectives told the court both men refused to comment when the charges were put to them. The two were remanded in custody and are set to appear in court again on Tuesday.

The suspects were arrested during anti-terror raids in Ireland on Friday. Seven other men and a woman were also detained and were still being questioned. The arrests came in several different locations in Ireland, including County Louth, which includes Cortown, just south of the border with Northern Ireland.

The men arrested are between the ages of 19 and 71.

The suspects are being held under the Irish Republic's Offences Against the State anti-terrorism legislation and can be questioned for three days without charge.

The Irish Republican Army, also called the IRA, fought a bloody campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland for decades before starting a process of decommissioning nine years ago.

Those who refused to accept the Good Friday Agreement that led to the decommissioning are known as dissident republicans.

Journalist Peter Taggart contributed to this report.