Opinion

Weapons discovery a serious setback to dissident republicans

The discovery of a haul of deadly weapons in west Belfast has undoubtedly dealt a severe blow to the dissident republican group known as New IRA.

Two AK47 rifles, two sawn off shotguns, a high powered rifle with a silencer, three pipe bombs and more than 100 rounds of ammunition were found in an outhouse in Rodney Drive on Wednesday.

The circumstances of the find were certainly unusual.

It was only after a fire broke out in the boiler house that the cache was uncovered.

Incredibly, the bombs and bullets were stored on top of a hot boiler, a shockingly dangerous act that could have had the most devastating consequences.

As Detective Superintendent John McVea put it, mixing pipe bombs and live ammunition with heat is a `recipe for carnage.'

The senior officer firmly believes the weapons belong to the New IRA and may have been used in two murder bids on the PSNI.

In one, which took place in 2015, a police car patrolling Rossnareen Avenue in west Belfast was hit with up to eight rounds. In that incident, the lives of the two officers inside were saved due to the presence of armour plating and bulletproof glass.

In the other attack an officer was hit three times in the arm when gunmen opened fire as he got out of a police car at a garage forecourt on the Crumlin Road in north Belfast in 2017.

People will recall that that was a particularly reckless shooting with shots fired across a busy main road which could easily have resulted in the death or injury of passing drivers or customers using the filling station.

It was an attack that summed up the complete disregard the dissident groups have for ordinary people trying to go about their lives.

In terms of the weapons find, police said it was possible the occupant of the house was unaware that this material had been stored in the outhouse, which may have been moved there on Monday evening after 9pm.

Investigating officers are appealing for anyone who saw suspicious activity in the alleyway behind Rodney Drive to come forward and hopefully those responsible for storing these bombs and guns in a built up area will be swiftly apprehended.

Although dissident attacks have thankfully decreased in recent months, there can be no complacency about the threat these groups continue to pose.

The destruction of these lethal weapons will be a significant setback to the tiny minority who are still wedded to violent means.

It is long overdue time for these groups to put aside their guns and bombs for good.