TWO GUNS found in the roof of an all-Irish primary school in Tralee, Co Kerry, on Wednesday evening were uncovered as part of a Garda investigation into crime and drug dealing in the town, a senior garda said yesterday.
The weapons found at the school had been wrapped in blankets and hidden. The find brings to three the number of guns located by gardaí within a 24-hour period in Tralee as part of the same investigation.
Det Insp Dan Keane, the head of crime and drugs investigation in the Kerry district, said the arms finds, which included a quantity of ammunition, were not related to investigation into subversive activity.
“It’s not subversive. The investigation is into crime and drugs,” Det Insp Keane said.
One of the weapons found in the roof of Scoil Mhic Easmainn, a 320-pupil gaelscoil at Rahoonane, was a sawn-off shotgun.
In a statement, the school said it was confident that the school was now “clear” and also said no pupils or school personnel had been in the school at the time of the arms find.
“We were aware there was a Garda presence in our school at night when there was no school personnel in the building.”
At the time of the find, a man in his 20s was being questioned by gardaí in Tralee Garda station under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.
The man was released yesterday without charge. A file is being sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.