Armed gardaí - Comfort undermined

THE launch of heavily armed Garda support units this week marked an inevitable passage from a more innocent time. It is no longer possible to expect unarmed gardaí to confront criminals better equipped and armed than they are. Not only is it dangerous, it is ineffective.

Yesterday’s seizure by police in the Netherlands of 165 weapons bound for crime gangs in Ireland, and the earlier seizure of 27 firearms and €4 million in drugs in Dublin, underlines the need for such a lethal capability.

However, any comfort offered by the strengthening of the gardaí is undermined by the claim that Brian Meehan, who was convicted of murdering Veronica Guerin, was involved in organising these shipments from prison by using a mobile phone.

If these claims were proven in a grown-up country the minister for justice would resign — but we all know what will happen here. No wonder Brian Meehan and his colleagues hold us in such contempt.