There are no instant solutions to the problem of gangland killings, the Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, has said. Joe Humphreys reports from Templemore.
Speaking yesterday at a Garda graduation in Templemore, Co Tipperary, his last major public appointment before his retirement this month, Mr Byrne said public expectations about the ability of gardaí to secure speedy convictions in such cases were sometimes unrealistic.
"We can only be successful in these areas where we get the evidence, and that is where we need the support of people, the support of witnesses, and the ability forensically to gather particular evidence," he said.
Addressing the spate of recent killings linked to criminal feuds, he told The Irish Times: "You find, like any crimes, when you put a nucleus of people behind bars and out of circulation it has an impact on them."
Unfortunately, he said, "at times you take one head out and another one springs up to replace it. But what we have been doing over the past number of years is ensuring that the grip that was perceived that they had - at times feeling untouchable - I honestly believe that has changed.
"When you look at the prison population at the moment and where they come from, and the type of crime they are in for, that in itself indicates what the Garda Síochána is doing and has been doing."
Three gardaí received special achievement awards: Garda Shaun Grant, Clonmany, Co Donegal, for highest aggregate marks in academic studies; Garda Oliver Walsh, Longford, for best all-round student; and Garda Christine Brady, Milltown, Co Cavan, for her work in the area of social science studies.
The Government Chief Whip and Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, Ms Mary Hanafin, who presented the certificates, praised the outgoing commissioner for his "dignity and great integrity".