Louise Duffy reports on the contents of the cache

The weapons were discovered by police investigating the activities of the "Real IRA" terror group responsible for the Omagh bomb which claimed 29 lives.

The find came on the same day that police in the republic seized weapons in raids on the homes of suspected members of the Continuity IRA, the only republican paramilitary group which has not declared a ceasefire.

Haul

The "Real IRA" weapons were uncovered in the dry-stone wall of a field near Carrickmacross in County Monaghan.

They included two machine guns, five rifles (two of them assault weapons), three pistols, bomb detonators and loaded magazines.

The find was made by police investigating the Omagh bomb

Police also found more than 700 rounds of ammunition and gunpowder for propelling mortars.

The cache was hidden in a large plastic barrel.

Some of the ammunition was similar to the type once favoured by the IRA for sniping attacks.

It was not clear, however, whether the arms had been stored by the mainstream IRA ahead of its ceasefire, or by the dissident breakaway "Real IRA".

Police Inspector Noel Cunningham said: "It's too early to say at this point whose arms they were.

"At the moment we simply have a cache of arms and until they can be technically examined, we won't know which group they can be attributed to."