Four BBC journalists were arrested at the weekend by Irish police monitoring the Real IRA, the dissident group responsible for intermittent violence in Northern Ireland.
The four were among 11 men arrested and held for questioning by Gardai in three separate police stations in the border county of Donegal.
It is believed the journalists were working for the BBC's Panorama and BBC Northern Ireland's Spotlight investigative programmes. Seven of the arrests were made on Saturday and a further four (on Sunday).
Although the BBC released only limited details, it is reported they were working on a programme on the Real IRA. A statement from the BBC said: "They were working on a BBC Northern Ireland current affairs investigation and had full editorial authorisation under the BBC's guidelines. The other parties present were fully aware."
Irish police said the arrests were part of "ongoing investigations into paramilitary activity".
BBC journalists are restricted by detailed guidelines covering contacts with illegal organisations, some dating from heated controversies arising from reporting on the IRA in the 1970s.
The Real IRA will forever be associated with the Omagh bombing, which killed 29 people in Co Tyrone in 1998. Its sporadic activities since then included shootings which seriously wounded two police officers.
The BBC reported their journos have been released. It was a skimpy little story.