'Dissident' Weapons Raid Sees Four Arrests

Four men have been arrested in Co Tyrone following a number of raids on suspected dissident republicans on both sides of the border and the discovery of "significant" weaponry.

The arrests were made by PSNI officers who stopped a car near Cookstown late on Monday night and after a search on the vehicle, recovered a firearm and a quantity of ammunition.

The four men in the car were taken to Antrim PSNI station for questioning.

The stop and search came in conjunction with ongoing operations against dissident Republicans by Gardai from the Special Detective Unit, who carried out a number of searches in the Louth and Meath regions yesterday morning.

During the course of the searches, Gardai recovered a general-purpose machine gun, a shot gun, a pipe bomb, an improvised mortar, assorted ammunition, bomb making equipment and explosives.

This is the second seizure of firearms and explosive material across the border over a four-day period.

Two people have already appeared before the courts in connection with an earlier operation.

Another eight people who were arrested have all been released and files are being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Describing Monday morning's find as "significant", the Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy said: "This find represents a further step in our determined strategy to target, disrupt and detect the activities of dissident republicans.

"We continue to work closely with our colleagues in the Police Service of Northern Ireland and in the Security Service to thwart the intent of a small group of people who want to inflict violence and pain on communities. Our objective is to stop them in their tracks and secure evidence to put them before the court.

"I want to congratulate both the national units and local Gardai who were involved in the operation which led to today's discovery."


The Mid-Ulster DUP Assembly MLA and member of the NI Policing Board, Ian McCrea, has also welcomed the arrest of four men outside Cookstown: "These arrests are to be welcomed and demonstrate that the police are making advances against those who want to wage a terror campaign on our streets," he said.

Ulster Unionist MLA Billy Armstrong has also praised the police for last night's operation in Cookstown in which four men were arrested and a weapon and quantity of ammunition seized.

(DW/KMcA)