Sir, In his article (January 31 st) Vincent Browne seems to be amazed at the media portrayal of the public outcry over the recent crime wave which has swept the country. "Alarmist, frenzied, hysteria" are but a few of his adjectives. No doubt such a cool customer as Mr Browne, with his great experience of reporting in the media is unfazed by all this crime.
He appears to suggest that we should realise that serious crime will occur on a regular basis and that we must accept this as a fact of life. Maybe the media should refuse to cover such crimes and then we would never hear of them all. Sweep it under the mat, eh, Mr Browne?
Mr Browne has criticised the media, neglected to condemn the criminal element and in the process has apparently written off both "hanging and flogging" as suggested on RTE, and the building of large prisons, as suggested by Mr Ray Quinn, as a way of dealing with these vermin. Maybe we should, instead, award cash prizes to the criminals who perpetrate the best crimes?
To cap it all, Mr Browne then proceeded to both patronise and insult Mr Quinn by saying that he was "disqualified from giving a considered and dispassionate view of the crime phenomenon because of his grief".
Mr Browne, quite a lot of people have very passionate views with regard to psychopaths breaking into their homes, plundering their belongings and murdering their relatives. If some hyperbole in the media forces Nora Owen and the Gardai into action to halt these despicable crimes, then so much the better. Yours, etc., Sunday's Well, Naas, Co Kildare.