Sir, - Recent pronouncements by the Minister for Justice regarding the drop in crime rates in Dublin and around the country leave most members of the public bewildered.
In Dublin, gangs of young thugs prowl the streets from dusk till early morning, seven nights a week, threatening and assaulting people at will, while our garda force tells us there is nothing it can do. Theft and vandalisation of cars and property seems to be accepted as part of the price one pays for living in this country.
Let's fact the facts. Reported crime rates may have dropped but only because the average citizen now knows that thugs and hoodlums control our streets and our police force has given up even trying to reclaim them. - Yours, etc., Geraldine Cusack,
Patrick Street, Dublin 8.