A search of a wooded area in Co Monaghan will resume this morning following yesterday's discovery of a rifle, several hundred rounds of ammunition, and other weapons parts.
The arms, which were found in a bunker at Liseggerton just outside Clones, included ammunition for a general purpose machine-gun as well as for the Heckler and Koch rifle. There was also a detonator, a timing power unit for use with explosives, a rifle silencer, a night sight, and some combat clothing.
The discovery came after a two-week search operation in the general area, although gardai only moved on to the site at Liseggerton yesterday morning.
The scene was cordoned off overnight and members of the Garda's Emergency Response Unit are expected to join local gardai when the operation resumes today.
The one-acre wooded area is about 200 yards north of Clones and half a mile from the Border with Co Fermanagh.
It is 10 miles from the site of the last major Garda find in the county, the IRA training camp uncovered in remote hills near the Border last March.
A protracted search of that area uncovered two underground firing ranges and 500 rounds of AK47 ammunition, as well as components for home-made machine guns, improvised grenades, a stolen motorcycle, mortar tubes and gas cylinders.
Yesterday's search involved 15 gardai, but more than 40 officers have been involved over the past fortnight, according to Chief Supt Colm Rooney of Monaghan Garda station.
There was no likelihood of an imminent arrest, he said.
