A 19-year-old man appeared in court yesterday following the seizure of drugs worth €200,000 in the grounds of a school in south Co Dublin on Tuesday.
Patrick D'Arcy, with an address at Loughlinstown Park, Dublin, was charged at Dublin District Court with drug possession and possession with intent to supply under Section Three and Section 15 of the Misuse of Drugs Act.
Two other men arrested in connection with the find were released without charge
Cocaine, a shotgun and ammunition were found hidden in a hedge outside Archbishop McQuaid National School in Loughlinstown Avenue.
Gardaí from the local drug unit searched the hedge after mounting a surveillance operation on a number of men.
When they searched the hedge, which is close to a play area at the school, they found the shotgun and the cocaine, which has an estimated street value of around €200,000.
Fr Ted Downes, the chairman of the school's board of management, said while the drugs and gun were hidden in a hedge which is passed by children entering and leaving the school, the pupils were not in any danger.
"It was in an area which is out of bounds to the pupils. There was a lot of Garda activity on Tuesday, but by today things had calmed down again and we had classes today. It was business as usual."
He said staff and pupils at the school had been shocked when news broke on Tuesday of the Garda operation. No similar problems had been experienced in the area in the past.