McDowell concerned at rise in serious crime in city

Kathryn Hayes

The minister made his comments at the official opening of the city’s newly refurbished County Circuit Courthouse.

Mr McDowell said that he had discussed the recent upsurge of serious crime in Limerick with both Garda Commissioner Pat Byrne and Limerick chief superintendent Gerry Kelly.

Following the recent murder of 23-year-old Robert Fitzgerald, Junior Minister Willie O’Dea called for the redeployment of the Garda Emergency Response Unit to the city.

However, the minister for justice said yesterday there were no “quick fix solutions” to tackling crime and time was required to gather evidence and prepare cases.

“I am determined that criminal activity will be tackled with all the resources at the State’s disposal. The

garda authorities have already taken specific additional measures in the Limerick area and they will continue to take a proactive approach to ensure that outrages will not continue.”

Mr McDowell pledged that all necessary resources were being directed towards tackling such “outrages”.

He was speaking ahead of the first sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Limerick, commencing on July 8.

The move arises as a result to the backlog of murder trials, where the accused are from Limerick, waiting to be heard before the Central Criminal Court.

It’s expected that transferring the court to Limerick will help maximise garda resources, as each trial would involve a considerable number of garda witnesses.

The Central Criminal Court is also scheduled to sit in Limerick for the next legal term in November.

“To conduct these trials in Limerick will lead to less cost, less inconvenience for civil witnesses and, most important of all, result in gardaí having to spend a much lesser amount of time away from their normal policing duties,” said Minister McDowell.

The Minister of Justice was joined at the official opening of Limerick County Circuit Courthouse by Mr Justice John Murray of the Supreme Court.