A GARDA crackdown on dissident republicans is continuing today with a search resulting in the discovery of assault rifles and bomb-making equipment.
Acting on intelligence, members of the Garda Special Detective Unit, assisted by local Gardaí and sniffer dogs, began searching a building and lands on Monday in the Jenkinstown area of north Louth, just three miles from the Northern Ireland border.
The property being targeted by Gardaí is also close to Lordship Credit Union, where Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe (42) was gunned down by a gang of armed raiders on January 25 2013.
Weapons recovered so far during the searches have included Kalashnikov assault rifles, revolvers and a sniper-style rifle, as well as a number of mortars and materials for making improvised explosive devices.
It is understood that some of the weapons and explosives were discovered hidden in the walls of a building as well as buried in the surrounding land, including in hedgerows.
A Garda spokesman said: “During the course of the searches to date a number of items suspected of being component parts of improvised explosive devices have been located. As a result of this find the services of the Army Explosive Ordinance Disposal Team have been requested and are in attendance. A quantity of ammunition has also been recovered.”
Armed detectives guarded the scene overnight and the searches resumed this morning.
Garda sources have said that the operation is expected to focus on the search site for a number of days.
The find comes a fortnight after gardaí seized AK47s and other weapons at Scotstown, less than half a mile from the Fermanagh border near Roslea.
The Irish News reported that the rifles had been syphoned off by former Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt and buried in sealed silage tanks after he split from the Provisionals in 1997. It is believed that handguns recovered had been bought later.
