The Taoiseach Mr Bertie Ahern tonight congratulated gardaí on an arms find in Co Kildare which he described as "significant".
Gardaí today discovered firearms, mortar bombs and mortar launching rockets near the Kildare, Laois border during an investigation into dissident republican activities.
Mr Ahern said: "It is imperative that the politicians meeting in Shropshire over the coming days make progress in implementing in full the Good Friday Agreement so that the initiative is not yielded to those who continue to defy the will of the Irish people and resort to violence to achieve their aims."
A Chinese assault rifle, an AK47, a handgun, over 350 rounds of ammunition, 20 motor bombs and 20 mortar launching rockets were uncovered this afternoon in three separate locations within five miles of each other, Inspector Simon O'Conor told ireland.com.
The finds were made as part of an inquiry into the activities of dissident republican groups in the area, he said.
The operation involves local gardaí, the Emergency Response Unit and the Special Detective Unit.
Today’s development comes after an earlier find of photographs of a suspected paramilitary training camp in the area.
Two men arrested yesterday as part of the inquiry are still being held in Naas and Newbridge, Co Kildare, under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.
This weekend's operation is the latest development in a garda investigation into the activities republicans linked to two paramilitary groups, the Real IRA - the organisation responsible for the 1998 Omagh bombing which killed 29 people - and the Continuity IRA.
Additional reporting PA