Feuding gangsters - Street murders

Crime levels are down but fear is up as feuding gangsters continue to murder one another on the streets of our capital.

Six people have now lost their lives as a result of a feud between two gangs, sparked by a murder in Spain, but with most of the violence taking place in Dublin.

Most of those murdered were gang members but two were innocent victims, and the reality is that, if the feud continues, more vulnerable citizens will be caught in the crossfire.

This form of domestic terrorism has to be tackled once and for all, and that has to mean giving the gardaí proper resources and equipment to do it.

Garda personnel must, in turn, embrace change and be prepared to adapt in order to be more effective.

Special units have received no tactical training since 2008 and the first gardaí to respond to the Regency Hotel shooting in February were unarmed.

Outside of the Armed Response Unit, most gardaí have little in their arsenal except batons and pepper spray, a situation that borders on the criminally negligent.