Gardai responding to a street brawl in Dublin city centre in the early hours of Sunday found a gun and ammunition in a bin.
A man in his 30s from south Dublin and a woman in her 20s were arrested at the scene following the discovery near the Ha'penny Bridge.
Officers on patrol in the Middle Abbey Street area moved in on the fight shortly after midnight when one noticed a man appear to ditch something into a bin on nearby Liffey Street.
A subsequent search of the bin uncovered a package containing the firearm and rounds of ammunition.
The Herald reports that neither the man nor the woman, who were brought to Store Street Garda Station and questioned under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act 1939, are believed to be involved in gangland activity.
A ballistics examination will be undertaken by the Garda Technical Bureau to establish if the weapon is capable of being fired and whether it has been used in previous crimes.
