A Rare Catch

How does the militant Provisional wing of the Irish Republican Army get its apparently endless supply of weapons? Tangible evidence has been hard to find, but one speculation has been that the arms come in by sea. On a dark night last week, the Irish navy (all four vessels and 140 men) made a rare catch that proved that speculation well founded.

Just three miles off Helvick Head on the southeast Irish coast, the navy's three minesweepers and a fishery protection vessel trapped a coastal freighter laden with five tons of arms. The catch was not mammoth as military materiel goes, but it included the kinds of weapons that the Provos have used to murderous effect: 250 submachine guns, 2,000 rounds of ammunition, 200 antitank and antipersonnel mines, 500 lbs. of gelignite, 300 grenades, TNT, explosive fuses and detonators.

Perhaps an even more important catch was Joe Cahill, 53, onetime Provo chief in Belfast and No. 2 man in the movement, who had dropped out of sight following the imprisonment of Provo Chief Sean MacStiofain. Cahill and five other smugglers were unloading the arms from the coaster Claudia onto a fishing smack when the Irish warships fired warning shots across the Claudia's bow and then sent out a boarding party. All six Provos were later charged with conspiracy to import arms unlawfully; Cahill and two others were held without bail.

The Claudia, her German captain and five-man crew were ordered to leave Irish waters quickly and never return. Though registered in Cyprus, the Claudia is owned by two Germans from Frankfurt. Her voyage to Ireland originated in Cyprus and included stops in the Mediterranean. There was evidence that the arms had been loaded at Tripoli. British intelligence alerted the Irish government to watch for the vessel. The trap staged by Irish forces indicated that new Irish Prime Minister Liam Cosgrave plans to be at least as tough on the Provos as was his predecessor, Jack Lynch.

Altogether, it was a bad week for the Provos. Moderate Catholics stiffened their resistance to the I.R.A. after the killing of three British soldiers lured to a party by girl decoys. Police received more than 2,500 anonymous calls from would-be informers. It was too early, of course, to say that the tides of violence were ebbing, but the British were gaining support for their new plan to give Ulster's Catholic minority a fair share in governing the province (TIME, April 2). The Protestant Unionist Party, which formerly dominated the provincial government, gave qualified approval to the plan, and Britain announced that elections for a new 80-member assembly will be held in June.

It was also too early to relax at the golf course, but Britain's army commander in Northern Ireland, Lieut. General Sir Frank King, is not a man to let either a March drizzle or the threat of plentiful snipers interfere with his pastimes. Like all leading officials in Ulster, Sir Frank has to be constantly protected against the possibility of I.R.A. violence. Thus, he took two of his bodyguards along to the links. Being a properly frugal man, however, he persuaded them to act as his caddies for the day.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.