Irish up in arms over Tower cannons

THE Government will be called to account this week over an alleged arms-smuggling incident, writes Andrew Gliniecki.

After an investigation by Irish police and a curators at the National Museum of Ireland, the Dail is demanding the return of a pair of 16th-century bronze cannons at the Tower of London. Tam Dalyell, Labour MP for Linlithgow, has tabled a parliamentary question asking Peter Brooke, Secretary of State for National Heritage, for a statement. An answer is due this week.

The Dail claims the cannons were plundered from a wreck located in Tramore Bay, off Co Waterford, in the early 1970s. It has also been alleged that the guns were then concealed in a farm silage pit before being smuggled into Britain aboard a camper van.