The Irish police commissioner has rejected a call to reinstate Uzi machine guns in the wake of the murder of Detective Adrian Donohoe in January.

BBC News reports that police commissioner Martin Callinan said it "would not have made the slightest bit of difference" if Det. Donohoe had been armed with the Uzi machine gun during his attack in January.

Callinan’s comments came in response to Inspector Walter Kilcullen’s, who is based at Lucan, west Dublin, suggestion during the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) annual conference: "Maybe that night, if he [Det. Donohoe] had an Uzi submachine gun, what happened might not have happened."

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors passed a motion calling for the reissue of the Israeli-made weapons at its conference. Uzi machine guns, which were carried by police who were on cash escort duty, were withdrawn from service in 2012 and replaced with pistols.

Kilcullen added that the Uzi had not been available for the Det. Donohoe on the day he was killed "and it's not available for our colleagues today.”

Commissioner Callinan did say during the conference that some units were still armed with the submachine guns. "These regional support units are well-armed and they are well-equipped with all the necessary accoutrements in terms of automatic weapons."

However, Commissioner Callinan went on to reject Kilcullen’s comments: "Anyone who is equipped with the salient facts in relation to the brutal murder of Adrian Donohoe will quickly realise that an Uzi submachine gun in those circumstances would not have made the slightest bit of difference.”

Callinan added that it mention of it was “inappropriate” as Donohoe’s family is still grieving.

Four AGSI delegates walked out of the hall during Commissioner Callinan's speech to the conference.