FINE GAEL’S justice spokesman Charlie Flanagan has warned that 2010 will be a “bloody year” unless gangland crime is addressed as a matter of urgency.
He was speaking after two men were murdered at a flat on Pearse Street in Dublin on Sunday night. Only one of the victims is believed to have been the killers’ target. On Saturday the body of John Paul Joyce (30), from Coolock, was discovered near Dublin airport.
Mr Flanagan claimed an upsurge in gangland crime was inevitable unless senior Garda positions were filled immediately.
“The death of yet another innocent bystander is proof . . . how vulnerable every citizen of the State is to gangland crime,” he said.
“The threat to the population of gangland crime is very real and present. As another innocent bystander dies, steps must be taken immediately to ensure it does not spiral out of control.”
The Labour Party’s spokesman on justice Pat Rabbitte claimed the three shootings indicated that the Government had failed to combat gun crime. “Sadly, if previous cases are anything to go by, the perpetrators are unlikely to be brought to justice,” he said.
“Since 1997 successive Fianna Fáil-led governments have been telling us that they would put gangs out of business, but all the evidence shows they are failing in this regard.”
Mr Rabbitte said his thoughts were with the family and friends of the man who appeared to have had the misfortune of being with the target when the gunmen struck. He said the suggestion that the recent deaths came about as a result of criminal feuds would not comfort those left behind.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Minister for Justice said the murders were the subject of an intense Garda investigation.
“The Minister has brought in a raft of new legislation last summer which gardaí are utilising in relation to helping to solve the recent killings and other gangland killings,” the spokesman said.
He said gardaí had been given a range of resources to tackle crime gangs, while the specific anti-gangland budget had gone up from €20 million to €21 million for the coming year.
