Three held in dissident investigation

Three men in their 30s were arrested in Co Kildare this morning ahead of Queen Elizabeth's visit to the county.

Three men in their 30s were arrested in Co Kildare this morning ahead of Queen Elizabeth's visit to the county.

The first man was arrested by members of the Special Detective Unit shortly before 2am in Clane and the car he was driving was seized.

The other two men were arrested at 10.30am this morning and a number of searches were carried out in Robertstown, Co Kildare.

A garda spokesman said the arrests were in relation to the possible disruption of Queen Elizabeth's visit "rather than harm".

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The Queen visited the National Stud in Kildare today before having a private lunch at Gilltown Stud near Kilcullen, Co Kildare, which is owned by the Aga Khan.

Eight people arrested in Dublin city centre last night during a protest over the Queen’s state visit have been released from custody.

During a stand-off near Dublin Castle last night, some protesters clashed with lines of gardaí on the edge of an exclusion zone around Dublin Castle for last night’s State dinner.

Bottles, fireworks and rubbish were thrown at gardaí after protesters were prevented from marching towards Dublin Castle.

A Garda spokeswoman confirmed this morning the protesters were released from custody last night. Several groups of protesters were involved, and about 30 demonstrators with 32 County Sovereignty Committee flags were corralled by gardaí into a corner close to Christ Church.

Another group estimated to number some 150 rallied in the area from 5.30pm before marching up to gardaí at the junction of Dame Street and Fishamble Street. The group then walked towards Thomas Street, where it met a similar number of protesters from republican socialist group Éirígí.

Gardaí pushed protesters back from the junction of High Street and Nicholas Street as they began throwing bricks and stones, and some gardaí drew batons on Nicholas Street. There were at least eight arrests as uniformed gardaí penned some protesters into a corner near Bride Street.