Arms smugglers’ trial - A job very well done

THE great efforts made by An Garda Síochána and two undercover agents from Britain’s Serious Organised Crime Agency to put aspirant gun runners Sean Callinan and Glen Geasley behind bars deserves all of our thanks and congratulations.

In a script that would have put the Coen brothers in line for another set of Oscars the two police forces co-operated to make sure that this pair, working on behalf of one of Limerick’s deadly crime gangs, did not get to bring their lethal cargo to Ireland.

Undoubtedly, that cache of 24 weapons — rocket launchers, Kalashnikovs, US assault rifles, Uzi submachine guns and semi-automatic pistols — would have wreaked carnage in our cities on a scale beyond even the Coen brothers’ vivid and violent imaginations.

That the deal was supervised from a prison cell, via a mobile phone, by a senior member of the Dundon gang, shows the all-pervasive grip these gangs exert.

It takes a special courage to confront gangs with a history of violence and murder. But that is what the gardaí and everyone else involved in this triumph have done on our behalf.

So, the next time you’re moaning about a speed trap or a road check ask yourself an important question.

What would Limerick be like if the gangs had got the arms and were driving around Southill and Moyross like some Beirut militia bristling with rocket launchers and high-powered automatic weapons.

So, let us again congratulate those involved and hope that they are equally successful when the next attempt to smuggle arms into Ireland is made.