Attacks on the elderly - Deterrents are failing

ALREADY this year – twice – we have had to confront our appalling record on child protection.

We took a very small degree of comfort in the fact that the savagery recorded in the Ryan and Murphy reports was, for the majority of us, buried in the past.

We can take no such comfort when we consider attacks on elderly people. Even the prospect of such an attack undermines the security and peace all citizens should enjoy in their retirement.

This was underlined in Longford in recent days when, despite an alert community and excellent police work, three men kicked in the front door of a couple – aged 65 and 74 – before brutally attacking them.

Sadly, the deterrents we impose on such criminals are not effective and that leaves us with a simple choice.

Either we accept the attacks or impose deterrents that do what they are supposed to do.