Time To Fight Back

Christy Kinahan, Fat Freddie Thompson, Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch are names most of us will be familiar with. These are the toe rags that have been making huge sums of money peddling death and destruction on our streets for years. They have accrued vast sums of money on the back of the misery of others and they have proven that they, and the likes of them, have no regard for human life.

Neither have they any regard for law and order, democracy or now, it seems, the free press. The recent threats on the lives of two journalists have proven this. The general public, the gardai and the media should expect to be able to go about their daily lives without having to worry about coming face to face with these scumbags and their henchmen.

It’s at times like this that we look for leadership. We expect our Government to be outraged and to strike back. We expect some fighting talk and we stand shoulder to shoulder ready to provide whatever support we can.

So let’s hear some awe inspiring statement from our Taoiseach, Enda Kenny. He said he hoped there would be no further bloodshed. He also stated that the gardai knew what to do to crack down on gang crime and that they have the resources and the capacity to deal with it.

That’s not exactly going to knock Martin Luther Kings ‘I had a dream’ speech into second place.

It’s blatantly obvious that An Garda Siochana lacks resources and the Garda Commissioner has a responsibility to speak out on this. Politicians are quick to point out that the responsibility for policing and the management of resources is an issue for the Commissioner. If the fickle finger of fate conspires against her at some future point it might be comforting for her to be able to say that at least she fought a good fight.