Noonan attacks minister on crime strategy

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell’s measures to tackle organised crime in Limerick “are the equivalent of curing a broken leg with elastoplast”, former Fine Gael leader Michael Noonan said yesterday.

“Intimidation has been prevalent in certain areas in Limerick for sometime now and this is well-known to the Garda Síochána. It is widely believed that one murder was motivated by a desire to prevent a witness appearing in court,” said the former justice minister. “It was impossible to swear in a jury in Limerick in a major murder case and witnesses in another case who made statements to the gardaí were not prepared to repeat in court what they said in their statements.

“These are clear messages of intimidation and the minister for justice, who has the prime responsibility of protecting the citizens of Ireland, is failing in his duty to deal with this intimidation.

“The minister’s recent announcement of measures to tackle organised crime are totally inadequate and these are the equivalent of curing a broken leg with elastoplast,” said Mr Noonan.

New methods of deployment of the gardaí must be commenced immediately, he said.

Special units of the gardaí focussing on a small number of hardened criminal families who are involved in this intimidation and gangland violence must be set up.

“The provision of additional money for garda overtime which the minister for justice has announced, while welcome as a general policing measure, is not focused enough to deal with this problem. There must be an immediate crackdown on intimidation and gangland violence.

“People all over Ireland are losing confidence in the criminal justice system and, in particular, are losing confidence in the ability of this minister for justice and the Government to deal with this major crisis,” said the Limerick East Deputy.