THE three Government leaders have made a direct appeal to the electorate to vote Yes in the bail referendum on Thursday.
The Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, the Tanaiste, Mr Spring, and the Minister for Social Welfare, Mr De Rossa, yesterday urged voters to "set down an unequivocal marker for the hardened and persistent criminals in our society". Such a move, they said, would tip the balance against those who would commit serious crimes while on bail and restore protection, to the innocent victims of such crimes.
It was through the will and determination of the Irish people that the Government would deliver effective results in tackling crime, said the party leaders. The Government needed the wholehearted support of every citizen if it was to succeed in its fight against organised armed criminals and those involved in the drugs trade.
In a statement, the three said they were confident the vast majority of the people supported this "necessary constitutional change". They said their appeal was made to ensure that voters fully realised the necessity to "articulate that support in the only way that really counts, through the ballot box on Thursday".
The constitutional amendment was not excessive, they said, nor was it a threat to civil liberties. It followed closely the wording of the European Convention on Human Rights, which underpinned the civil liberties of all European citizens.
Mr Bruton said the fact that all the parties were on the one side in this referendum did carry a risk on polling day. Because the referendum did not have any of the "conventional drama of other election campaigns", he feared people might think the parties would carry it. But, he said during a joint party press conference it was the people who must carry it.
Asked if those who were detained without bail and subsequently found innocent would be compensated, Mr Bruton said he did not know the answer as the full legislation, in which it would be covered, had not yet been drawn up.
Under existing law, there was a possibility of people who had been wrongfully convicted seeking redress, he said. The party leaders also emphasised that the decision that an accused person should not get bail because of the risk that they might commit another offence would only be made independently by a judge after both sides had been heard.
The refusal of bail would only be possible if the offence with which the accused was charged in the first place was a "really serious one".
Extra prison spaces were being provided so that those remanded in custody would not displace those convicted of serious crime. "Too many serious crimes are being convicted by people out on bail. It is time to stop them. The people need to be protected from compulsive offenders.
"Certain sex offenders are compulsively recidivist and a judge should have the discretion to refuse bail where he or she is satisfied that there is a real risk of further offences while the accused is out on bail."
A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said yesterday that there was no figure available for how much the number of extra prison spaces would cost. She said an extra 800 would be "on line" by the middle of 1998.
The three leaders said enabling the courts to apply tougher bail laws required the will of the people to change the Constitution so that such a provision could be made in the laws: "We appeal to voters to play their part in the fight against crime by voting Yes on Thursday."