Tonight it has emerged that Gardaí have arrested 12 people who they believe to be apart of an alleged "paedophile ring."
The arrests were made in the south-west of Ireland and Gardaí carried out a number of searches.
In a statement released to Lovin Media Group, Gardaí said:
"Gardaí have arrested a number of people in relation to an ongoing investigation. They are currently detained in Garda Stations in the Southern and Western Regions of An Garda Síochána.
"There is a court order in place restricting reporting on this investigation to prevent identifying injured parties."
The investigation is ongoing, as stated by The Irish Mirror, and the accused are being held in different garda stations across Munster.
Their charges range from alleged sexual abuse to child exploitation.
"This is the latest phase in a lengthy investigation into a paedophile ring which has been operating in Munster.
"The people arrested are all known to each other and come from the same community - they are thought to be either related or connected through friendships," a source told the publication.
In March of this year, Gardaí identified 14 victims who were abused by members of a Paedophile ring also in Munster.
The ring at that time were all members of an extended family which Gardaí called "the worst paedophile ring" Ireland has ever seen.
The victims from that incident are all from an area in west Limerick.
It is not being said whether this investigation has any link to the one from March.
