THE recent spate of knife attacks in Ireland has again raised the ugly topic of thugs carrying blades.
A number of violent incidents in Dublin city centre have recently resulted in serious injuries and a death.
Heightened public fear and concerns about crime in the capital have made Dubliners increasingly wary of the city, particularly at night.
In response to the attacks, Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said he will strengthen knife crime laws, which will give greater power to Gardai to stop and search people suspected of carrying knives.
He said the changes will be made to the Garda Powers Bill.
Writing in The Irish Sun on Sunday today, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald says knife crime and the carrying of knives is a real and growing threat to public safety.
THE recent knife attacks in Stoneybatter in Dublin two weeks saw three people injured and left the community reeling.
Last weekend, Quham Babatunde was stabbed to death on South Anne Street in the early hours of the morning.
Victims of knife attacks suffer serious, lasting trauma. Their lives are changed in the most profound way. In the most tragic cases, lives are lost, and families are left with unspeakable grief.
These attacks highlight a sad reality – Dublin city centre is not safe.
Speak to anybody who walks though the centre of Dublin – by night or day – and they will tell you they do so quickly with their heads down or looking over their shoulders.
There is a real atmosphere of danger and tension, and this is not a figment of people’s imaginations.
The city centre is riddled with criminal gangs operating in full view.
There’s open drug dealing and taking, on-street drinking, and the pervading threat of anti-social behaviour.
The first step in solving a problem is to acknowledge its existence. This is something the government fails to grasp.
The loss of safety in Dublin city centre has taken root because of a lack of Gardaí on the beat, policing the streets as a deterrent to crime and anti-social behaviour.
Our frontline Gardaí go out every day to keep us safe and do their best for the community, but they have been left without the manpower and resources to turn the tide.
In the absence of serious government action, the situation has gone from bad to worse.
‘PEOPLE ARE ANGRY’
The knife attacks over the last couple of weeks have added to people’s fears.
The truth is that we have a long, painful history of serious crimes being committed by people out on bail for serious offences.
Some of these incidents have resulted in families suffering the most heartbreaking loss of a loved one.
People are angry that this happens again and again.
Why is it that people arrested for very serious offences are released on bail only to commit further crimes, frequently with devastating consequences?
GOVERNMENT NEGLECT
The question begs, are our bail laws and processes fit for the purpose of keeping people safe?
There is a very real sense that public safety in Dublin and the right of every person to go about their lives without fear has been taken away by the failure of the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments to respond to the realities on the ground.
All this undermines people’s confidence in policing and justice.
The job of the government is to rebuild this confidence and people’s sense of safety through effective action.
The Minister for Justice has stated that parts of Dublin are safe but not the specific areas he is talking about.
While the Taoiseach is adamant that there are strong enough laws to deal with knife crime and the carrying of knives, the Minister for Justice has accepted that the laws need to be strengthened to deal this growing problem.
TOO HIGH A PRICE
There seems to be some confusion in the heart of the government on what is a very serious issue.
Dithering is not going to make people safer. The sooner the Taoiseach and the Minister get on the same page the better for everyone.
It’s clear to everyone what needs to happen now. We need the government to bring forward a plan to make our city safe again.
That means more Gardaí on our streets and more investment in community, youth services, youth diversion programmes, rehabilitation and in our probation services.
We need to reform our bail laws urgently. We need an rapid and serious response to knife crime and carrying knives.
The price of government failure in all of these areas has been too high for too many.
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