EU peace money given to a group that used a building where guns were found is unlikely to be returned despite a inquiry by the EU's anti-fraud office, it was claimed today.
The former Northern Ireland Voluntary Trust has been ordered to recover £26,500 sterling of European money it gave to a group for former loyalist prisoners in Co Antrim.
Weapons, including a powerful machine gun, were found by police in the offices of the North Antrim branch of Ex-Prisoners' Interpretative Centre (EPIC) in Ballymoney in May 2000.
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.
The ex-prisoners' group said it had vacated the offices before the weapons find, but its funding was frozen immediately afterwards.
The EU's anti-fraud office did an investigation into the incident and found there were serious weaknesses in the ".
It then called for the grant to be returned. However, Mr David Ervine, the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party, which is linked to a loyalist paramilitary group, said there was little chance of the money being retrieved.
PA