THE Irish army has disabled an explosive device in southern Ireland, the police and defence forces said overnight. However, they declined to comment on a report by Irish broadcaster RTE that the discovery had foiled a plot by dissident Irish republicans, the Real IRA, aimed at disrupting a deadline for agreement on self-rule in Northern Ireland. A police spokeswoman said the remains of a device were found in Kilbranish, Mount Leinster in County Carlow on Friday night. "The gardai (police) moved in and cordoned off the area and carried out a search," she said. The device was disabled by army bomb disposal experts on Saturday, a defence forces spokesman said. Neither could not comment on the RTE report linking the find to the Real IRA.