Government pledges to rush through gun crime legislation

MAJOR criminal justice legislation will be rushed through the Dáil this summer in response to the latest handgun murder in Dublin, the 13th involving firearms this year.

The Cabinet decided yesterday that the final stages of the Criminal Justice Bill will be debated in the Dáil and Seanad next week, some weeks ahead of schedule. A spokesman said the Government was determined the bill — which contains robust provisions on so-called gangland crime and firearms — will become law before the end of summer.

Amid opposition criticism of the latest spate of gangland crime, the Justice Minister Michael McDowell briefed Cabinet colleagues yesterday about the killing in the early hours of Monday morning, where James Perdue, aged 22, was shot dead as he returned to his flat in Donaghmede, north Dublin.

Mr McDowell said he met the Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy and Deputy Commissioner Fachtna Murphy and had been reassured neither resources nor legislation were issues with respect to the garda response.

The spokesman said that the minister accepted that a small group of “desperate and disparate” criminals were posing a problem but that the garda response — especially through the anti-gangland initiative Operation Anvil — was extensive.

But Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny berated the Government’s response.

He said that the murder was the sixth in north Dublin this year and that the Glock handgun was now becoming the weapon of choice for criminals.

Speaking in the Dáil, Mr Kenny lambasted the absence of a gun amnesty or stronger Government action or legislation.

“They believe they won’t be caught. It is fundamental to their belief. The annual rate of murder has gone up 42% since 1997,” he said.

“The teachers’ unions are reporting that teachers have been threatened with handguns,” he added.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said the fight against crime was an ongoing battle and what was happening in Ireland was also true of every other western democracy.

He said of 29 homicides in Ireland this year, 20 of these had been solved.

He pointed out that Operation Anvil had succeeded in taking in an enormous amount of guns and handguns. He said that since it started a year ago, 527 firearms had been seized and that over 2,800 arrests had been made.