The 46-year-old was arrested after police found a pistol, an airgun and more than 200 bullets of various types of bullets in a bag in the trunk of his car on Wednesday morning. A Detective Inspector told Belfast Court yesterday that several items with UVF souvenirs and 3. 3,000 in cash were also found in a search of his home. The officer added that Irvine was seen by police talking to the driver of a Volkswagen truck on Glencairn Street in the Woodvale area of ​​north Belfast. Irvine was seen opening the trunk of his car while the driver of the van opened his side and lifted an object out. Irvine was then seen closing the trunk of his car before being taken to Disraeli Street, outside Shankill Street, where he was stopped by uniformed officers. The police asked him if there was anything in his car that he could not explain. He pointed to an orange Sainsbury’s bag on the boot, but said he did not know what was inside. Inside the bag was a single 8mm shotgun, a ME38 .22 Brocock airgun, 203 9x19mm ammunition cartridges, two 7.65x17mm cartridges, two 0.243 Winchester cartridges and a 5.56x45mm cartridge. Nine cartridges were also found, including one used for the SA80 rifle issued to the Armed Forces. Irvine was arrested under the Terrorism Act and taken to the Musgrave Street police station, where he was interviewed five times. The officer told the court that he initially made no comment, but when interviewed for the fourth time, he said the weapons “had nothing to do with him”. In the fifth interview, she gave the officers a ready-made statement but declined to answer any questions about its contents. Irvine was subsequently charged with possession of a firearm and ammunition under suspicious circumstances, possession of a prohibited firearm, possession of a pistol without a certificate and possession of ammunition without a certificate. The officer told the court that his 8mm pistol had been replaced with his barrel to allow him to fire real shots. He also said that a mixed DNA profile had been recovered from the handles of the bag containing traces of Irvine’s DNA. A search of Irvine’s home in Ballysillan, North Belfast, turned up a UVF plate with “fallen volunteers” next to family photos. Numerous UVF ‘B’ Company pins were also discovered along with a large UVF pendant in a bedside drawer. Memorials from UVF Commander Trevor King and UVF member Brian Robinson, both shot during Troubles, were also found along with a balaclava. Disagreeing with Irvine’s release on bail, the officer said the recovered ammunition was compatible with a range of weapons that had not yet been found and had “all the characteristics of a paramilitary operation”. He said that if released, Irvine could try to move the weapons and intervene with others involved in the storage of the weapons. The officer added that his release could also increase tensions in the community and endanger public safety. Claiming bail, Irvine’s lawyer said he was a “high profile person” with contacts with the UK and Irish governments along with senior PSNI officials. He said Irvine was a “famous peacebuilder” who had worked in the field for 20 years and was about to graduate from the University of Maynooth yesterday with a degree in international peacebuilding and development. The lawyer told the court that during the riots on the Lanark Way interface in Belfast last year, Irvine and representatives from the nationalist side of the community worked to defuse tensions at the request of police. He said there was nothing to suggest Irvine had the weapons for “evil purposes”, nor any knowledge of what was in the bag, and that he would fight the charges at trial with a “galaxy” of defense witnesses. The lawyer also pointed out that the most recent entry in Irvine’s criminal record was that he had been an unaccompanied driver L since 2009. He said Irvine was a married man with four children and that his family members were willing to post a. 10,000 bail to secure his release on bail. However, District Judge George Conner said a “significant amount” of weapons had been recovered and believed there was a risk of insults and interference to witnesses. He denied the accused’s bail and remanded him in custody, with the trial adjourned until July 1.