Investigation into how a machine gun fell from a Garda vehicle in Dublin

Gardaí are investigating how a submachine gun fell out of the boot of an official vehicle driven í in Dublin city centre. A member of the public helped ensure it was returned rather than stolen from the scene. The Irish Times has learned the Garda gun was lost from the vehicle in April on the north quays in Dublin city centre, though news of the incident had not emerged before now. The Garda firearm – a Heckler & Koch MP7 submachine gun – was in the boot of the vehicle, which somehow opened at the time. Garda Headquarters has not commented on the detail of the incident, but it is understood a member of the public saw a bag containing the gun falling on to the road and then flagged down another Garda vehicle. The personnel in the second car retrieved the bag, preventing a major security incident if the gun – which can fire almost 1,000 rounds per minute – had been taken from the scene. The firearm was in a bag, with other items including ammunition, at the time. In reply to queries, Garda Headquarters said: “A senior Garda officer has been appointed to examine all the circumstances surrounding an incident involving an armed Garda unit in Dublin in April.” Fiosrú, a Garda watchdog agency, did not comment on whether the incident had been referred to it . It said it was “not in a position to comment” on queries put to it. Another firearm, also a Heckler & Koch MP7, fell from the boot of an armed response unit vehicle in Dublin’s south inner city in 2018. Gardaí saw the gun bag falling, but a member of the public, who handed it in to Store Street Garda station within 30 minutes. During the 2018 incident, the boot of the vehicle appeared to pop open as the car was driven over a ramp. It is not clear why the boot opened during the more recent case. The Irish Times understands that, in relation to the April incident, an effort was made to discipline the Garda member the firearm had been assigned to. However, this has been resisted amid annoyance within the ranks of the armed specialist units, which includes the Emergency Response Unit and the Armed Response Unit. Sources familiar with the case noted when the similar incident occurred in 2018 the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc), Fiosrú’s predecessor, carried out an investigation in the public interest.