Bishop's plea over gangland murders

One of Ireland’s leading Catholic clergymen today called for national unity in the face of the evil of spiralling gangland murder.

As pressure mounted on the Government with five murders in six days, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said a culture of violence was beginning to devastate the capital city.

Against a background of public outrage over the murder of an innocent bystander in a gangland hit, he said Dublin communities were being ripped apart by drugs.

“There are some who feel that they have a right to callously disregard the dignity of human life, even of innocent bystanders, in order to foster their criminal interests.

"There can be nothing further from the message of the Gospel and we all have responsibility to denounce such violence,” the clergyman said.

Minister for Justice Michael McDowell admitted the situation was serious, with innocent people being put in danger.

In the latest attack, well-known criminal Gerard Byrne, 25, was gunned down outside the Mace supermarket in the International Financial Services Centre in Dublin shortly before 9pm last night.

Byrne, who was originally from nearby Ferryman’s Crossing in inner-city Dublin, was believed to have been heavily involved in armed robberies. He was arrested in Raheny a number of months ago by gardaí who believed he was on his way to carry out a murder.

Mr McDowell dismissed opposition calls for the army to be deployed in parts of Dublin and insisted gardaí had been given record levels of resources to deal with the spate of killings.

Mr McDowell said the vicious murders were partly a by-product of the success of the Garda Operation Oak to tackle the crime wave.

He said gardaí were escalating their search tactics to put criminals under acute pressure and restrict their capacity to move freely.

In the wake of his comments, gardaí confirmed they were allocating an additional 20 officers to the Organised Crime Unit (OCU) at the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, bringing the number to more than 70.

“OCU will continue to work closely with the Garda National Drugs Unit, the Special Detective Unit and other units within the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, focusing on well-known individuals who are involved in organised crime, which includes trafficking of illegal drugs and firearms,” a spokesman said.

Gardaí, who called for the public’s assistance to combat organised crime, confirmed there would be a significant increase in armed Garda patrols and checkpoints in key areas, including those where shootings have occurred.

As part of Operation Oak, 24 people are before the courts.

Dr Martin said: “A culture which attempts to impose its interests through violence undermines the rule of law and is a threat to democracy.

“There is no room for complacency in the face of such evil. I wish to encourage every support for the gardaí and other civic authorities in their efforts to bring to justice those responsible for these murders and to prevent further killings.”

The archbishop praised people for having the courage to come forward with information.

“I know from priests in many parishes how the trade in illegal drugs in Dublin is destroying lives every day.

“In addition to the terrible shootings and beatings that make the news, there is the daily reality of young lives being wasted and families and communities being ripped apart by the terrible plague of drug abuse. There can be no tolerance of this trade,” he said.

Amid the opposition parties’ call for action, Mr McDowell said: “There isn’t some quick-fix solution. I can’t put the army on the streets, as some people have suggested. That wouldn’t achieve anything.”

Joe Costello, the Labour Party TD, said there was a danger of the situation spinning out of control unless the Government got a proper grip on the situation.

“I yesterday gave to the Taoiseach a list of associates of and people in the circle of the victim of Tuesday’s killing, Mr Hyland. I showed the Taoiseach a list of where they were now and an alarming number of them are at liberty on bail pending trial and pending sentence.

“It is my intention to contact the judiciary to ask for a special bail list to be established for Section 15 and 15A cases. These are possession of drugs and possession of firearms,” he said.