Combating gangs - Cost-cutting will not help

There is bitter irony in the coincidence of shutting down 39 more Garda stations and the public warning that 25 organised criminal gangs are now operating in Ireland.

Based in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, and Sligo, not alone are they working closely with criminals in the North, they are also linked with international organisations, including Russian gangs.

Nobody in their right mind will believe the claim by Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan that the ongoing closure of stations is not about cost cutting. Nor will his expression of sympathy with people in rural areas cut much ice. That said, however, his praise for an under-staffed and over-worked Garda Fraud Bureau, notably its meticulous probe into rogue Anglo Irish Bank, is fully warranted.