Real solutions needed to tackle crime on the Northside
Labour Party General Election candidate for Dublin Bay-North, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has said that there needs to be a Mulvey-style commission to tackle serious crime on the Northside of Dublin.
Senator Ó Ríordáin said:
“Since the beginning of summer 2019, there has been five shootings in my constituency in Dublin Bay North and since the weekend alone there has been a non-fatal shooting and the remains of a body have been found in Coolock. This type of criminal activity is not normal.
“I have been calling for a Northside Crime Taskforce for over a year, similar to the one established in 2016 in the North Inner City. Our community has seen a serious escalation in murder, gun crime, drug-related intimidation and anti-social behaviour over the last twelve months.
“It doesn’t have to be like this. We can’t sit back and allow this climate of fear to become the norm.
“There are a lot of initiatives that work in the Inner City, where the voices of community organisations and local representatives are being heard.
“These need to be replicated so communities can feel safe.
“As we have seen from the successful programme in the North Inner City, a taskforce would gather voices from Residents Associations, School Principals, Gardaí, Youth Workers, Local Drugs Task Force and Public Representatives.
“The idea is that the answers are in the community. It was the community that began the push for a new Garda Station and have led the successes of local projects such as Preparing for Life. It is the community that was the central pillar to the Drug Task Forces – a pillar that has been undermined. It is the community that would be the centre of any proposed Crime Task Force.
“We also need to move beyond an immediate criminal justice response to drug use and juvenile drug crime.
“Other jurisdictions are thinking differently about how we approach this area, and we need to have that conversation in Ireland too.”