Violent crime - Climate of fear ignored in statistics

BARELY four months after Justice Minister Michael McDowell’s claim that Ireland was among the safest of countries, the chilling events of recent days show that life has become cheap on the streets of our cities and towns.

There could hardly be a more graphic illustration of the mindless violence which is now widespread than the appalling incident in Naas where a woman was fatally stabbed as she queued for a taxi on the Kildare town’s Main Street.

The motive for her killing by a 49-year-old man early yesterday morning has baffled gardaí investigating this senseless crime.

But for the heroic actions of passers-by, who tackled the suspect and pinned him to the ground until the gardaí arrived on the scene, he might well have escaped into the night, leaving the public to grapple with yet another inexplicable episode of casual violence.

The sheer sense of shock felt by the people of Naas echoed the feeling of bewilderment in Leixlip, another Kildare town where the local community was also left reeling in horror last weekend after a ‘Good Samaritan’ was battered to death outside his home.

Set upon by up to 10 youths shortly after midnight when he tried to protect two youths seeking refuge in the front garden, 51-year-old Oliver Lacey was beaten unconscious with his own hurley by the gang and died later in hospital.

Yet another incident which mirrored the ugly face of violence in Irish society involved a 29-year-old man, known to the gardaí, who was gunned down outside his home last weekend in Ballincollig, a sprawling dormitory town west of Cork city.

What distinguished that gruesome murder from other apparent gangland killings was the casual manner in which the man was shot several times by a professional hit man in the driveway of his home.

The cold-blooded killing took place in full view of his partner and their baby and right before the eyes of a group of teenagers gathered nearby.

Mr McDowell based his astounding claim for Ireland’s safety record on garda crime figures.

But a snapshot survey conducted by the Irish Examiner at the time showed how misleading statistics can be.

In the same week as Mr McDowell’s announcement, there were three murders, including a domestic stabbing, a gangland shooting and a drunken battering.

In addition, two other fatalities were the subject of garda investigations.

Mr McDowell’s views may have been borne out by official crime statistics, but they conflict with the popular perception of most Irish people who believe this country has indeed become an extremely violent place.

Blatant thuggery is now an unpalatable fact of life in towns and villages that had not known the kind of violence associated with the growing phenomena of binge drinking and drugs.

Exactly a year ago today, figures from Operation Encounter, set up in 2002 to combat alcohol-fuelled violence on our streets, showed that more than 17,000 people were assaulted over a two-year period.

Following particularly violent assaults, some 5,300 victims had suffered injuries and 230 were seriously injured.

Coming so soon after last weekend’s horrific murders, the callous stabbing of a housewife who was queuing for a taxi on the main street of an Irish country town is a frightening reminder of the raw aggression seething in a society where mindless violence is now endemic.