Two men arrested by gardaí in Co Meath and Co Donegal following the murder of an RUC officer in Co Derry almost 50 years ago, have appeared in court in Dublin.
Constable Robert McPherson, 25, was shot dead in an INLA ambush in Dungiven on 26 July 26 1975.
A fellow officer was seriously injured.
A third man, arrested in Northern Ireland by the PSNI, appeared in court this morning in Derry on firearms charges.
John Edward McNicholl, 72, of Newmills, Letterkenny, Co Donegal, appeared in the High Court in Dublin on foot of an extradition warrant.
He is wanted in Northern Ireland to face charges of murder, attempted murder and possession of arms and explosives.
He was granted bail on a €7,000 surety from a family member and another offered by independent Donegal TD Thomas Pringle.
A garda sergeant told the court that when he asked Mr McNicholl if he knew about the offences he replied: "Ah, I do, yeah."
Also in court in Dublin was Seamus Christopher O'Kane, 73, with an address at Scalestown, Dunshaughlin, Co Meath.
He is originally from Garvagh, Co Derry and is wanted by the authorities in Northern Ireland on weapons and explosives charges.
The court heard Constable McPherson's personal weapon, which had been stolen from the murder scene, was recovered at a farmhouse where Mr O'Kane and two others were found hiding in 1976.
The court heard that the arms charges were linked to the murder investigation because the policeman's handgun had been among the weapons recovered there.
The court also heard that a previous attempt had been made to extradite Mr O'Kane in 1978 but it had been refused by the Supreme Court.
He was released on bail.
The garda arrests were made under a Trade and Co-operation Agreement Warrant as part of a joint operation with the PSNI.
A 71-year-old man detained by the PSNI this morning, as part of the arrest operation, appeared in court charged in Derry with firearms offences.
Joseph Gerard Kelly from Glenview Park in Dungiven was charged with possessing two electronic detonators and two pressure mats with intent to endanger life on 16 February 1976.
He also faces charges of having two Walther pistols, a .22 rifle, a Browning pistol and a Remington shotgun and ammunition with intent to endanger life, also on 16 February 1976.
Applying for bail, defence solicitor Seamus Quigley told District Judge Barney McElholm that the warrant for the defendant's arrest had been issued in April of this year.
Mr Quigley said the defendant "has been living openly at his home for the past 20 years".
A detective sergeant from the PSNI's Legacy Investigations Branch said bail conditions in the case were agreed.
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They included the defendant surrendering his passport and not applying for any new passport, that the defendant should continue to live at his home address and that he would report one a week to Limavady PSNI station.
The district judge released the defendant on his own bail of £500 and the case was adjourned until 10 July when it will be mentioned at Limavady court sitting in Coleraine.
Northern Ireland's Public Prosecution Service (PPS) issued a decision to prosecute the three men prior to the commencement of the controversial Northern Ireland Legacy Act on 1 May.
It effectively ended all future Troubles prosecutions, except those taken forward through a new commission established under the new legislation.
A senior figure in that commission has already conceded that the prospects of successful convictions are "vanishingly small".
But because the decision to prosecute had been issued before the coming into effect of the new law, these cases can continue.
In a statement, the PPS said that having reviewed the available evidence it had decided to prosecute one man for the murder of Constable McPherson and the attempted murder of a second police officer in Dungiven.
A decision was taken to prosecute two other individuals for a number of firearms and explosives offences.
