An Army bomb disposal team today carried out a controlled explosion on a improvised mortar bomb in Dunleer Woods, Co Louth, following the discovery of a Real IRA arms stash there that also included a machine gun.
Gardaí believe they have thwarted a serious dissident republican gun or mortar attack on a target in the North or Britain after finding the weapons, which were well preserved and were “clearly ready for use”. All of the weapons were found with matching ammunition.
Gardaí excavated the wooded area near Dunleer yesterday and found an array of weapons buried in barrels in what Garda sources have described as “one of the biggest finds for years”.
An Army bomb disposal team arrived at the scene at 9am today and declared the scene safe at 11.25am following the controlled explosion involving the mortar bomb.
Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern yesterday congratulated the Garda, saying their find had come about after “detailed” investigative work.
“This was a very significant find at a time when the threat from dissident groups poses dangers for law abiding people,” Mr Ahern said last night.
Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy also described the find as “significant”.
The operation in the Republic that led gardaí to the arms was intelligence-led and was linked to the recent arrests of dissident republicans in a number of locations.
The find is being linked to the Real IRA and specifically to a section of that organisation led by a prominent dissident republican family which has been active for decades in Louth and south Armagh.
Garda search teams moved in on a wooded area at Togher near Dunleer at first light yesterday. Using specialist equipment to detect recently disturbed earth, the search team identified one plot and began digging.
A couple of feet below the surface the team came upon a number of large drums in which weapons and ammunition had been stored.
The haul included a general purpose machine gun. Ammunition for that weapon was found with it.
They also discovered a shotgun with ammunition and a viable pipe bomb with around 5kg of TNT explosives. An improvised mortar was also found along with an assortment of components used in bomb making.
In the North, four men have been arrested by PSNI officers investigated alleged dissident republican activity. The men were detained after a car was stopped in Cookstown, Co Tyrone, late last night and a firearm and ammunition were found.
They have been taken to Antrim PSNI station.
Both An Garda Síochána and the PSNI have stepped up security operations against dissident republicans following an increase in paramilitary activity, most recently in reaction to a dissident republican bomb exploding in Derry last week. British authorities have raised the threat level of a dissident republican terror attack from moderate to substantial.