Garda boss vows killers must be brought to justice

GARDA commissioner Fachtna Murphy said there was a small core of ruthless killers in Limerick who will have to be brought to justice.

Appealing for witnesses to come forward in the investigation into the brutal murder of rugby captain, Shane Geoghegan, he said that if necessary the witness protection programme will be used in the investigation.

“We will use any means within our power, within the rule of law, to bring the forces of the state to bear in dealing with this criminality. There is a small core of ruthless killers in this city that have to be brought to justice.”

He said there are at least 40 members of well-known gangs in prison at the moment, either serving sentences or awaiting trial and all were involved with core criminal gangs in the city.

“The death of the unfortunate Shane Geoghegan brings reality home to us and that is why I am appealing to everybody to work together and provide the Garda Siochána with the information and together we can make a real difference.”

Mr Murphy made his comments after meeting senior garda officers at Roxboro Road Garda Station who are in charge of the investigation into the brutal murder of rugby player Shane Geoghegan.

The commissioner said they would keep up the pressure on the city’s violent gangs by searches, morning and night through hard “firm in the face” policing.

Mr Murphy said: “This is a great city and a small number of ruthless individual who are engaged in violence and engaged in drug trafficking are bringing the city down.”

He said the investigation is progressing well.

“We are following a large number of lines of inquiry. There is a lot of work to be done in any crime like this and my next step will be to seek the assistance of the community to solve this atrocious crime.”

The commissioner said they had the necessary resources to police Limerick and the force had been increased in the city by 80 gardaí in the past year.

The commissioner said he told Taoiseach Brian Cowen at a meeting yesterday that he was satisfied there was sufficient legislation in place to fight serious crime.

“I discussed that matter and I’m happy to say there is sufficient legislation in place. The issue for us is to get the evidence. We have the specialist units, but these crimes are not easy to solve.

“There is a small core of ruthless killers living in this city who will have to be brought to justice.”