Three people have been arrested in connection with the escape of a prisoner from Tallaght Hospital in Dublin last month.

A man and a woman aged in their early 60s were arrested in Co Meath this morning.

While a man in his 30s was detained in Portlaoise.

They have been taken to Tallaght and Rathfarnham garda stations in Dublin, where they are being held under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.

Derek Brockwell escaped from the hospital on February 17th, after he was taken there from Portlaoise Prison for treatment.

He was serving a seven-year sentence for armed robbery.

He stabbed the two unarmed prison officers at the hospital before making his escape on an awaiting motorbike.

He was re-arrested outside a pub in Belfast the next day.