Three people have been arrested by gardai investigating the murder of Dundalk publican Stephen Connolly in July.
It is suspected he was shot after refusing to pay protection money to a gang with INLA associations. The alleged leader of the gang, Nicky O'Hare, was shot dead three weeks later just a few yards from Mr Connolly's pub.
Mr Connolly (26) was shot three times by a lone gunman who opened fire as he sat in a car on Park Street, Dundalk, in the early hours of July 28th.
Detectives quickly established Mr Connolly had fallen out with Mr O'Hare and refused to pay a five-figure sum in protection money to Mr O'Hare's gang. Mr Connolly had survived another attempt on his life in March, for which members of Mr O'Hare's gang were arrested.
Early yesterday Dundalk gardai arrested two men, aged 25 and 28, who were close associates of Mr O'Hare, and a 20-year-old woman, the girlfriend of one of the men.
They were arrested under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act for allegedly being in possession of information about the possession of firearms on Park Street, Dundalk, at the time of Mr Connolly's murder.
The 25-year-old man was taken to Navan Garda station; the second man and the woman are in Kells Garda station.