SERIOUS questions must be asked about how more half-a-kilo of Semtex came to be discovered in a house in west Belfast, it was suggested last night.
Unionist politicians raised concerns about the discovery of the arms haul, which included the explosive, two handguns, more than 200 rounds of ammunition and two detonators, at a house at Ballymurphy Road, saying it raised questions about what weapons illegal paramilitary groups still possess.
The police search on Thursday night required the evacuation of neighbouring houses, with up to 10 families having to leave their homes in the early hours of yesterday.
Forensic officers were called to the property, which is located near a primary school in the area, to conduct a detailed search.
Officers removed items, including a computer hard drive a lap top, from the house in large clear bags.
A 67-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman were arrested and last night remained in police custody at Antrim Serious Crime Suite.
The discovery of the arms stash comes 18 months after a republican paramilitary group calling itself the`IRA' claimed it had acquired its own Semtex and commercial detonators.
The comments were made after the group claimed it had used the newly acquired explosives when a type of mortar not used in the north before was fired at a police Land Rover in west Belfast.
The discovery of the haul in west Belfast yesterday came as Northern Ireland Secretary of State Theresa Villiers announced that the British government had commissioned a factual assessment from the UK security agencies and the PSNI on the structure, role and purpose of paramilitary organisations in Northern Ireland.
The move came in the aftermath of the Executive almost collapsing amid concerns about the current role of the Provisional IRA.
Speaking yesterday following the Ballymurphy find, Detective Chief Inspector Gillian Kearney, from Serious Crime Branch said the team was "delighted to have removed these potentially lethal items from the streets of west Belfast".
"We appreciate the clearance operation which was needed to ensure everyone’s safety through the night disrupted many people’s lives, requiring people to leave their homes and inconveniencing road users," he said.
"We would like to thank them for their patience and understanding during the operation. We will continue to work with the community to ensure we keep everyone safe."
Sinn Féin assembly member Pat Sheehan said it was "very worrying" that the alert had taken place in close proximity to a school.
"It’s very disruptive for the community, people having to leave their homes in the middle of the night," he said.
"It’s worrying that explosives have been found in a built up area and we know that dissident organisations have used Semtex previously."
Mr Sheehan said whoever was responsible for leaving the arms haul at the house had "nothing to offer the community".
"The only things they have to offer is the fact that someone is going to end up in a prison cell and people are going to end up killed or injured," he said.
"I would call on whoever owns the weapons, whatever groups are responsible to pack up and go away. They are causing disruption, they are going to be responsible for people spending time in prison."
Ulster Unionist MP Tom Elliott described the discovery of Semtex as "particularly interesting given that that particular explosive was brought into this country by the Provisional IRA from Libya several decades ago and was of course supposed to have been entirely decommissioned in 2005".
"However, this is not the first time that it has turned up in the hands of so called republican dissidents. We need to know how old the material was and if it is proven to have come from an old PIRA arms stockpile, we need to know just how it came into the possession of dissidents," he said.
"In light of the announcement by the Secretary of State of a new independently reviewed assessment of paramilitary organisations, these are the exactly the type of questions which need to the answered."
