FEWER THAN one in eight gangland murders have been solved over the past decade because Fianna Fáil led governments have failed to sufficiently resource An Garda Síochána to meet the challenge posed by organised gangs, the Labour Party has said.
Labour’s spokesman on justice Pat Rabbitte TD said jailed gangland criminals had access to mobile phones and devices such as Blackberries in their prison cells at a time when Garda stations do not have even basic technology.
He made his comments after receiving an answer to a written Dáil question that revealed just 23 people have been convicted in relation to 193 gun murders committed in the Republic since 1998.
“It would appear that these thugs can act with virtual impunity,” Mr Rabbitte said.
“It’s not unreasonable for us to expect when it comes to murder, that in the vast majority of cases, the perpetrator would be brought to justice, but this is clearly not happening.”
The poor gun murder conviction rate “lays bare the claim that Fianna Fáil is tough on crime”.
Mr Rabbitte said gangland crime posed “formidable” challenges for the gardaí but the Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern had “let down” the force by not giving gardaí the resources they needed.
“Unfortunately we are asking the Garda to fight this problem with one hand tied behind their back.”
A recent report by the Garda Inspectorate had revealed most Garda stations did not have access to e-mail. This was “beyond comprehension” and had given rise to a situation where crime gangs were better equipped than the Garda.
In his response to the Dáil question Mr Ahern said in the period from 1998 to March 21st, 2010, there had been 193 murders involving the use of a firearm. Criminal proceedings had been commenced in 53 cases with 23 convictions to date.
A number of cases relating to gun murders in recent years were still before the courts and when they were concluded the conviction rate would rise.
However, gardaí investigating gun murders and non-fatal shootings often found it very difficult to get co-operation from the people known to the victim or from gangland figures targeted in violent attacks.
Witnesses were also often subjected to levels of intimidation to ensure they did not aid the Garda’s murder investigations.
In many cases the person asked to carry out a killing has no connection to the victim, a fact which created investigative difficulties for An Garda Síochána.
However, Mr Ahern said of the nine gun murders recorded so far this year criminal proceedings have been commenced in four cases. These had not yet led to convictions because of the short timeframe since the killings.
Tackling gangland crime remained a priority for him and for the Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy.
However, Mr Rabbitte said no gangland cases had been progressed under the new covert surveillance and juryless court legislation. This was despite assurances from Mr Ahern and other Ministers at the time that gangland convictions would quickly follow the enactment of the new legislation.