Funding frozen after arms find

The weapons haul found in the Ballymoney offices

A loyalist ex-prisoners' group has had its funding frozen following the discovery of arms in an office it used in County Antrim.

The North Antrim branch of Ex-Prisoners' Interpretive Centre (EPIC) had been the tenants of offices in Ballymoney in which weapons, including a powerful machine gun, were found by police.

The haul also included a rifle, booby-trap device, a stun gun, three replica weapons, a large quantity of ammunition, military-style clothing and baseball bats.

More than £30,000 in funding from Europe, administered by the Northern Ireland Voluntary Trust, was to have been paid to EPIC.

Avila Kilmurray: Nothing like this has happened before

NIVT director Avila Kilmurray said the grant had been halted pending an investigation into the circumstances of the arms find.

"We were very disappointed that this situation has arisen and that we had to take these steps.

"We fund over 40 ex-prisoners' groups and this is the first time anything like this has happened."

The ex-prisoners' group concerned is not surprised that its funding has been frozen. It has claimed that it vacated the offices in April.

Martin Snodden: Parallel inquiry

"At this point we are conducting an internal investigation in parallel with the RUC's investigation, to find out what connection there was in relation to EPIC and EPIC staff in that area and those arms, if any," said EPIC director Martin Snodden.

Initially the police linked the Progressive Unionist Party, which has links with loyalist paramilitary groups the Ulster Volunteer Force and Red Hand Commando, with the find as it had been a tenant of the building.

The party's senior spokesman, David Ervine, issued a statement on Wednesday night in which he said the party had vacated the building more than a year before the arms find.

And speaking to BBC Radio Ulster on Thursday Mr Ervine questioned the "spin" which had been put on the event in initial reports.

"I want written confirmation from the landlord so there is absolutely no equivocation, so it's not the PUP saying in its own defence it wasn't a tenant, but that it was the owner saying it wasn't a tenant," said the east Belfast assembly member.

Police are currently questioning two men about "serious crime in the area" following the arms find.