Unionist political figures have strongly criticised an Irish district court’s decision to grant bail to a woman charged with possessing explosives allegedly destined for Northern Ireland.

Isobella Perrie Sullivan, 25, a law student from Clane in County Kildare, was granted bail at a special sitting of Trim District Court on Friday evening. She is charged under explosive substances legislation after gardaí stopped her car on the N2 at Aclint, Carrickmacross, on Wednesday and discovered a bag containing Semtex and a detonator in the rear seat.

She was remanded in custody until a further bail hearing at Monaghan District Court on Monday. Conditions set by Judge Raymond Finnegan include a €15,000 independent surety, a curfew from 9pm to 7am, daily sign-on at Naas Garda Station, surrender of her passport, and maintaining a charged mobile phone. Gardaí also sought a condition barring contact with members of Saoradh or the New IRA.

The court heard that Sullivan had been asked to transport an item to the north and was unaware of its contents, according to her solicitor Gavin Booth. He said she had been manipulated and her parents were devastated. Gardaí had objected to bail, citing the gravity of the alleged offence; a senior officer described the seizure as “extremely significant”.

A second suspect, a man in his 40s, remained in Garda custody in the Dublin area on Friday night.

DUP leader Gavin Robinson said the decision to grant bail left “serious questions to answer” for the Republic’s justice system, arguing that alleged involvement in transporting a viable Semtex device should be sufficient to deny release. He described dissident republican terrorism as an ongoing lethal threat.

UUP leader Jon Burrows announced he would write to Irish Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan to express concern and seek clarity on the handling of terrorist-related cases. Mr Burrows called it “extremely difficult to understand” how bail was granted given the nature of the charges and the Garda objection. He dismissed the notion that parental supervision provided adequate assurance, and he queried whether the Semtex originated from old Provisional IRA stocks, which would raise further questions about incomplete decommissioning.

Both leaders said the incident was a reminder that dissident groups still pose a threat to Northern Ireland and commended the security forces for intercepting the device.