Kenny line on law and order challenged

I SEE from Oireachtas Report (RTÉ, November 7) that the Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has taken to reinventing history.

In the course of making a point about the horrific shooting of young Jordan Crawford in Limerick, Mr Kenny said: “... after the tragic and unfortunate death of Veronica Guerin, the then government, comprised of Fine Gael and Labour, took action to put those gangland bosses out of business and behind bars where they belong”.

That’s not my recollection of what happened.

My memory is of a Fine Gael Taoiseach and justice minister in panic, looking around for what to do. They did pass legislation to tackle the gangland bosses, but it wasn’t their own.

It was the Fianna Fáil private members’ legislation which had been drafted by the party’s justice spokesman, John O’Donoghue. What we saw back then was not speedy and swift action by a Fine Gael-led government. It was foresight and preparation by a Fianna Fáil opposition. Enda Kenny’s rewriting of the history of that episode does neither himself nor his party any credit.

Peter Power TD

Dáil Éireann

Leinster House

Kildare Street

Dublin 2