Ireland aims to get tough on gun crime

It follows a near 10-fold increase in the number of people murdered through violent crime in the Republic in the past 10 years.

One of the latest victims was a 65-year-old grandmother who died instantly after being shot in the head in her Dublin house last weekend, apparently the victim of a family feud.

Three days later, an English woman on a shopping trip in a small rural town was also shot in the head after a passer-by’s handgun misfired. She is recovering in hospital.

Guns were once a rarity in Ireland outside of paramilitary organisations, but the number of illegally held weapons is now growing fast. Guns previously held by terrorists are finding their way to criminal gangs who then sell them on for as little as 50.

Despite the widespread publicity and legislation which resulted from the murder of Dublin crime journalist Veronica Guerin, who exposed some of the gangs, the gardai have proved largely powerless to stop the shootings and Ireland’s post-economic boom society has become increasingly violent.

"Before, when people had a fight or a dispute to settle, they used their fists. Now they use guns," a police spokesperson said.

In Dublin, gang killings have claimed the lives of more than 20 men in the past 10 months. Fifty people in all were murdered during the same period. Most of them were young.

Carefully planned execution-type murders have become almost routine in certain parts of the capital.

After Guerin’s death, the government set up the Criminal Assets Bureau, an institution to monitor and retrieve monies made from organised crime.

Although it has had some considerable successes, notably the imprisonment of the mastermind behind the reporter’s assassination, John Gilligan, it remains hugely under-resourced.

Big drug profits, combined with the now inevitable presence of deadly firepower, make further deaths inevitable, the police said.

Limerick vies with the capital for gun-related violence. A mafia-style feud involving two large families in the city has taken up thousands of hours of police time, with few convictions.

Ireland’s opposition justice spokesman, Joe Costello, described the situation as "completely out of control", adding: "Hardly a week goes by without someone being murdered and it is not just confined to cities like Dublin, Cork or Limerick but is also happening in the smaller provincial towns and cities.

"A large number of gangland killings are being carried out by mercenary individuals and there is an increasing number happening in this country."

His counterpart in government, Michael McDowell, last week announced an amnesty for those prepared to hand in their guns before he introduces strict measures including mandatory sentences for those convicted of firearms offences.

However, a police spokesman said the failure of the judiciary to impose penalties for existing laws does not inspire confidence.

"Our hands are tied by judges seemingly unwilling to take a tough line with criminals in this country. It’s a revolving door system and nothing will ever improve while it’s like that," he said.