A well known dissident republican from Belfast is one of three men will face Dublin’s Special Criminal Court tomorrow over a beer keg bomb close to the border at the weekend.

Liam Burns, 38, from north of the city, is charged with two men aged 37 and 44 with possession of explosives contrary to the Offences Against the State Act.

Two other men have been released and a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

One of them is 72-year-old Francis McGeown from Dundalk.

All the men are well known to Gardai.

The five men were arrested following the discovery of what gardai believe is an improvised explosive device bound for Northern Ireland.

It was discovered after heavily armed Garda officers from the Emergency Response Unit stopped a car near Kilcurry, just a few miles  from Dundalk in Co Louth on Sunday night.

A beer keg was discovered in the vehicle, and was found to have components required for the manufacture of an IED.

The scene was preserved and the Army Bomb Disposal team were called in to examine the device and make the area safe.