Opinion

Alarm over huge Armagh weaponry find

While paramilitary violence on all sides has not entirely disappeared from our society, it thankfully remains at a low level, and attacks involving the use of deadly weapons like machineguns have become very rare indeed.

There have still been provocative stunts involving both republicans and loyalists over recent days, which were clearly designed to increase tension during a politically sensitive period.

However, a particularly alarming development was the seizure of a huge cache of weapons in Co Armagh last week, described as the most significant of its kind in Northern Ireland over the last decade, and officially linked by police to `serious organised criminals.'

Two waterproof bags which had been buried near Jerrettspass, a rural district outside Newry, were recovered on Thursday after what was said to have been a prolonged operation in adverse weather conditions.

The first contained four machineguns and three handguns while an assault rifle and three machine pistols were discovered in the second one. Some of the weapons had magazines attached and a quantity of ammunition was also found.

It will be noted that the investigation, while supported by the Police Service of Northern Ireland, was coordinated by the London-based National Crime Agency.

Photographs released by the NCA indicated that the guns were in good condition, and would plainly have been capable of causing carnage if they had been fired at either police officers or civilians.

It has been evident for some time that gangs involved in the drugs trade in the south of Ireland have access to enormous amounts of weaponry, and, if related elements north of the border are arming themselves in the same way, a firm and immediate response from the authorities is required.

The Jerrettspass find was an excellent start, and there can be little doubt that it has saved lives, but further interventions and equally importantly arrests need to follow in the coming weeks.

Drugs make enormous profits for criminal groups, and result in misery and death for young people regardless of their background in all parts of Ireland.

It is clear that the gangs are both ruthless and heavily armed, as the Jerrettspass case demonstrates, and are ready to kill anyone who gets in their way.

The entire community has a responsibility to provide the information which will help to bring the perpetrators before the courts.