Crime statistics - Good and bad news in gun figures

THE spectacular success of the on-going garda blitz against organised crime marks a welcome breakthrough in the fight against criminality but, ominously, it is offset by Ireland’s low record in solving gun murders.

According to the latest crime figures, more than 12,000 people have so far been arrested by gardaí in a crackdown on crime — appropriately code-name Operation Anvil.

Politically, these results are music to the ears of Justice Minister Michael McDowell who praised the gardaí for disrupting the criminal activities of a number of key criminal gangs, securing high-profile arrests in the process and gathering intelligence on the movements of criminals.