Gardaí destroy illegal arms

Up to 800 firearms seized during investigations into criminal and terrorist activities were destroyed by gardaí today.

The decommissioned weapons included heavy sub-machine guns, handguns, Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles, a number of RPG rocket launchers and sawn-off shotguns.

The weapons were confiscated from republican terrorists and criminal gangs operating across the Republic in the last two years.

The metal fragments produced during the destruction process are to be melted down and shipped to Ohio in the United States where they will be used to build a peace fountain.

Senior police officers from Ohio, along with assistant garda commissioner Tony Hickey, oversaw the process at an industrial unit in Dublin this morning.

Detective Inspector Brendan McArdle said garda policy was to seize illegal weapons and safely dispose of them as soon as possible.

“Once the weapons are destroyed, no harm can be done to any citizen anywhere in the world,” he added.