Plan for more gardaí may be arrested by lack of funds

ONLY Fianna Fáil was credible on crime, then Justice Minister John O’Donoghue said just a week before the election.

“We have cut crime by 27%, to its lowest level in a generation,” he said on May 8.

Scoffing at Fine Gael’s suggestions of a 131% increase in public order offences, he downplayed the problem, claiming street assaults only rose by 18% in 2000. “There is, of course, more to be done, particularly in the area of street crime and violence against young males in particular,” he said in a cursory nod to the commonly-held view that public disorder now ruled the streets.