We need more money to fight crime, say gardaí

THE head of the Garda Representative Association has welcomed the Justice Minister’s pledge of an additional €2 million to fight crime but said it had to be viewed in the context of a €23m cut in garda funding this year.

"This could conceivably mean more gardaí on the streets of Limerick and we welcome that," GRA president Michael Kirby said.

"When we're looking at Limerick what we need is specialist units to target the criminal gangs just like what happened after the Veronica Guerin murder. If this is going to happen we need more funding and we have to get away from putting the budget first."