Bomb disposal unit called to examine arsenal

The Army Bomb Disposal Unit was called to a house in a Cork suburb after the discovery of an arsenal of weapons which turned out to be a resident’s private collection.

The weapons — which included grenades and handguns — had been decommissioned and are not understood to be viable.

They were discovered at a house in Douglas on Saturday after the emergency services had been called when a visitor to the house had suddenly fallen ill.

It is understood he later died.

In the course of the incident, gardaí discovered the weapons at approximately 9.30pm.

It is that understood bomb disposal personnel from the Defence Forces were called in to establish the viability of the weapons, and that the area was sealed off for a time.

By last night, however, the area had returned to normal and gardaí were assured that the weapons were collectibles.

It is understood the weapons found have been sent to Dublin for ballistics tests.

A Garda spokesperson confirmed that an incident had occurred at a house in Douglas, in which weapons such as handguns and pepper spray had been discovered.

She said that a number of items were seized but that no arrests had been made and that a man was helping gardaí with their inquiries into the matter.

The Garda spokesperson also confirmed that the items have been taken for ballistics testing and that the matter is still under investigation.

Gardaí inquiries continued into yesterday morning but the area was no longer sealed off.

A spokesperson for the Defence Forces said personnel from the Army Bomb Disposal Unit had been called to a house in the Cork area, primarily to deal with a hand grenade.

She said it was found to be an “inert” replica and had no explosive content, while the other items are understood to have been confiscated by gardaí.