Dublin Sinn Fein Sinn Féin -- Building an Ireland of Equals

Justice Minister must act following latest gangland murder - Ó Snodaigh

Published: 22 October, 2007

Sinn Féin Justice Spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD has condemned the latest gun murder of a man in Finglas last night and said this latest act of gang violence reinforces Sinn Féin's demand that the tackling of serious drug and gun crime be prioritised by the Department of Justice.

Deputy Ó Snodaigh said:

"Once again I am calling on Justice Minister Brian Lenihan to initiate a
robust programme of civilianisation of administrative Garda tasks and
re-deploy fully trained Gardaí into the fight against crime.

"Week in week out people are being shot and killed on our streets with
criminal gangs showing absolutely no fear or regard for the law. In last
nights instance a taxi driver ended up his nights work with a man being
shot in the seat next to him. It is wrong that any citizen going about
their daily lives should be exposed to this type of activity.

"We have the ludicrous situation where Gardaí, fully trained to fight
crime, are left working on administrative tasks that could be done by
civilians. This is unacceptable. These Gardaí are needed for the fight
against crime and should be re-deployed.

"Sinn Féin has repeatedly called for a robust programme of
civilianisation within the Gardaí. Our proposals have been mirrored in
the latest report from the Garda Inspectorate and, if implemented, Sinn
Féin's proposals could free up approximately 4,000 Gardaí to be
re-deployed into the fight against crime.

"How many more people have to be killed before the Minister acts? If he
is serious about combating the serious criminals in our society then he
must free up the Gardaí to do the job."