THE Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, has claimed that the Labour Party was speaking with "forked tongues" on the forthcoming bail referendum.
In a statement yesterday, Mr Ahern said that while Labour Ministers supported the passage of the referendum, the Labour Lawyers group gave the impression that their hearts were really "on the other side".
He urged the Tanaiste, Mr Spring, to make it clear that the lawyers' group did not speak for the party "and to reprimand them for undermining the Government campaign, such as it is".
This referendum would be "a test of the seriousness of our determination to tackle crime". For too long, we had been prepared to live with a less than satisfactory situation in the belief that nobody could do anything about it.
"Suspected criminals who have already been caught and charged have been able to go on committing crime up until their trial. In 1995, 5,400 detected crimes were committed by people on bail, double the number in 1990," he said. This growing problem had undermined the credibility of the law and order system.
Passage of the referendum must be followed by the provision of more prison spaces, a more expeditious courts process and more vigorous criminal law enforcement, he said.
