A woman who was eight months' pregnant had to be rushed to hospital after her car was hijacked by two men who threatened her with a glass bottle on New Year's Day in Dublin city centre.

The woman was rushed to the Coombe hospital and treated for shock. Initially, there were concerns she could go into labour as a result of the incident but she recovered from her ordeal and was later released from hospital.

The woman and her partner were parking their car at 1am on New Year's Day in the south side of Dublin city, when they were approached by two men. They were ordered to "get out and hand over the keys" by one of the men, who was brandishing a broken glass bottle. The couple obeyed and the two men in their 20s hijacked their BMW.

The woman's partner immediately telephoned gardaí and an unmarked patrol car soon spotted the stolen vehicle and gave chase. Within five minutes of the hijacking, gardaí had cornered the car on Kevin Street.

One of the men then fled but he was apprehended a short distance up the road and the other man was arrested in the vehicle.

The pair were arrested and taken to Kevin Street garda station. One is aged 21, the other 26. Both are known to gardaí. A file is being prepared for the director of public prosecution (DPP) and gardaí are satisfied the men will face serious charges of car-hijacking and threatening behaviour.

A senior garda source said their crime was made worse by the fact a heavily pregnant woman was placed in a dangerous situation.

He said the woman was brought to the Coombe hospital in the immediate aftermath of the incident as a "precautionary measure" and said it was fortunate no serious harm came to her or her unborn child because of the reckless actions of the two men.