§ 21. Mr. Nicholas BennettTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the number of explosive and arms caches discovered since 1 January.
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§ Mr. Tom KingThe determined efforts of the security forces throughout the island of Ireland have led to the recovery of a substantial amount of arms, ammunition and explosives. Since 1 January this year there have been over 100 caches of various sizes discovered in Northern Ireland. The most significant of these were the discovery of 91 assorted weapons, 150 hand grenades and 11,500 rounds of ammunition at Portadown on 8 January; 27 weapons, 20 hand grenades, two rocket launchers and 11,000 rounds of ammunition at Lisburn on 3 February; and 53 weapons, 126 hand grenades, one rocket launcher and 40,500 rounds of ammunition in north Belfast the following day.
Overall, a total of 296 weapons, just over 70,000 rounds of ammunition and approximately 4,100 lb of explosives have been recovered in Northern Ireland. Some 200 weapons, about 139,000 rounds of ammunition and 600 lb of commercial explosives have also been recovered by the Garda Siochana.