Tagging will help protect our children
While no motive can be ruled out, everything points to paedophile involvement in the murder. Arguably, had the garda authorities been empowered to keep track of convicted sex offenders, it could have accelerated the investigation in this tragic case.
Undoubtedly, a tagging system would constitute a powerful deterrent against predatory paedophiles.
The need for a more effective means of tracing convicted paedophiles is illustrated by the fact that there are 100 registered sex offenders in Co Cork alone, some 20 of whom live in the Midleton area where Robert was abducted.
It is impossible to imagine how anybody in their right mind could abduct, let alone kill a child. It is a nightmare scenario that plumbs the depths of moral depravity and is now a stark reality in Ireland.
In calling for the introduction of an effective tagging system for convicted sex offenders, the Irish Examiner is mindful of the danger of a witch-hunt mentality in society. H
owever, as already emphasised in these columns, the human rights of paedophiles must be balanced against and, indeed, made subordinate to, the much greater right of children to be safe.
Given that the threat of vigilantism could lead to misdirected violence against known paedophiles, it is imperative that information about their past records be confined to the relevant authorities. There should be no question of putting up names and addresses on community notice boards.
Essentially, a tagging system would ensure that when a sexual crime is committed against a child, suspects could be swiftly eliminated from garda inquiries.
The need to tag convicted paedophiles was strongly endorsed yesterday by District Court Judge Michael Pattwell who believes it would prove enormously helpful to gardaí when children go missing. Having seen the system operate in the United States he has lobbied successive justice ministers for its introduction here.
Incredibly, however, while Justice Minister Michael McDowell plans to introduce tagging for petty criminals, this will not apply to sex offenders. This amounts to a cost-saving measure designed to reduce the prison population.
In the face of criticism in this newspaper, the gardaí have defended their handling of the final hours of this case. Categorically, this was not a criticism of the excellent work of the gardaí on the ground who have performed superbly under very difficult circumstances.
What it is, however, is criticism of a system which allows the body of a murdered child to remain by the side of the road for almost 24 hours after its discovery.
While a garda spokesman insists there was no undue delay in bringing the garda crime investigation unit and State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy to the location where Robert’s body was discovered, there has been no satisfactory explanation as to why this could not have happened immediately after his body was found.
That would have confirmed at the earliest possible stage, for the distraught Holohan family, that the body was that of their son. Would any parent wish to suffer the additional agony of having to wait overnight suspecting the body of their child was lying on the side of the road?
There is no denying that forensic examination of a crime scene must be conducted at the earliest opportunity.
Scientifically, it is a well-established fact that data collected through early forensic investigations and postmortems would vastly improve the quality of DNA and other information needed for what has now become a full-scale murder probe.
It is an indisputable fact that there was a delay of nearly 20 hours in the forensic investigation. If the reason for this was a lack of resources or equipment, either in the gardaí or the State pathology service, then that should be stated openly and addressed without delay.
Ultimately, the evil perpetrator of this appalling murder may not be a convicted paedophile and so would not be named on the Irish register of sex offenders. But, according to experts in the field, even if the perpetrator was on the register, that would not involve supervision by the gardaí.
It would be relatively easy for a person to change their name by deed poll, effectively blending into the anonymity of urban life, thus fouling up garda bureaucracy in the process.
There is also a strong possibility that paedophiles may be coming to Ireland from Britain where procedures for dealing with convicted sex offenders are being greatly strengthened.
It is impossible to imagine the trauma suffered by the Holohan family since Robert’s disappearance ten days ago. As rumours circulated, shockwaves of compassion mingled with fear spread from the local community to grip parents in every household in the land.
Families no longer feel secure in allowing a child out to play with the same freedom they once enjoyed. That sense of liberty has been callously eroded. Parents have become fearful and protective of their children.
Robert’s shocking murder has engendered fear in every home.
The whole country grieves with the Holohan family.
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