TWO MEN are being questioned by gardaí after they were found with a handgun and over 100 rounds of ammunition in south Co Dublin on Saturday night.
The men, who are brothers from Cork, were stopped in a car on the N7 at Rathcoole as they were driving back to Cork at 7.30pm.
They were arrested as part of an intelligence-led and surveillance operation spearheaded by the Garda National Drug Unit and aided by the Organised Crime Unit.
Armed members of the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) were also drafted in for the planned operation and they carried out the arrests of the men, who are from the north side of Cork city.
Gardaí are working on the theory that the men had collected the firearm from a criminal gang in west Dublin and were driving back to Cork when they were stopped.
Investigations into the origins of the weapon were ongoing last night.
One of the arrested men is very well known to gardaí.
He is a convicted armed robber and has also spent a lengthy period in jail for his role in an attack in which a man died.
Gardaí believe the suspect has fallen out with a criminal from the south side of Cork and that the two men have been threatening to kill each other.
Both men had been close in the past but are believed to have fallen out after one blamed the other of supplying information to gardaí about a botched armed robbery.
One line of investigation being explored is that the 36-year-old arrested in Dublin on Saturday had sourced the seized gun because the row with his former criminal associate had worsened.
However, Garda sources said the suspect is regarded as a key player in the Cork drugs trade and may have wanted the firearm and ammunition for activities linked to drugs.
The same sources said the man had established contacts with well-known crime gangs in Dublin during his time in prison.
The suspect has served two lengthy prison terms.
One of those crimes, an armed robbery, was committed while he was out on bail waiting trial on charges relating to his role in a fatal attack on a man known to him.
He was convicted of the fatal attack but not on a charge of murder.
While he was jailed for more than 10 years for the armed robbery he served just six because a portion of the sentence was suspended and because he was entitled to remission, which means a quarter of a prison term is taken off for good behaviour.
The Irish Timesunderstands the man was released from that lengthy armed robbery sentence around three months ago.
The suspect’s brother, who was also arrested on Saturday night in Rathcoole, is known to gardaí in Cork but is not as prominent a criminal figure as his older brother.
The two men are being questioned at Clondalkin Garda station under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. They can be held for up to 72 hours without charge.
