Mullingar firearms meeting to inform policy

The outcome of meetings between Dept of Justice officials and firearms owners held in Mullingar last year will inform government policy on firearms regulation.

In February of last year, three national forums were held with the registered firearms dealers in Wicklow, Limerick and Carrick-on-Shannon. Two forums were held with firearms owners in Mullingar on June 19, 2025.

Carlow Kilkenny Fine Gael TD, Catherine Callaghan, recently raised the outcome of the meeting in the Dáil when she asked Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality whether the minutes or agreed notes of meetings of the new Firearms Forum will be made publicly available on his department’s website.

Replying on behalf of his party colleagues, Minister of State at the Dept of Justice, Niall Collins, said his department holds meetings with individual firearms organisations on request and engages with various firearms stakeholders, including representative firearms organisations, in various ways.

He pointed out that An Garda Síochána also meet firearms stakeholder organisations in respect of relevant matters. “Officials from my department also liaise regularly with the Firearms Policy Unit of An Garda Síochána on firearms-related matters,” Minister Collins said.

“Earlier this year, my department organised a series of engagements with firearms stakeholders in Wicklow, Limerick, Carrick-on-Shannon and Mullingar. I and officials from my department have also met representative organisations, including the FURG (Firearms Users Representative Group) and the NARGC (National Association of Regional Games Councils). In those and other engagements, I have confirmed my support for more regular and structured engagement between policy makers and firearms users than has taken place since the last meeting of the Firearms Consultative Panel (FCP) in 2019.

“I can advise that ongoing engagement has continued with firearms stakeholders,” the minister stated.