According To Dermot Ahern, the new Minister for Justice, he is reliably informed (presumably by Garda “intelligence”) that there are two categories of organised crime groups operating in Ireland.
One is organised crime gangs, involved in the same businesses of organised crime gangs everywhere in the world: drugs and robberies.
Irish websites are unwittingly hosting child and adult pornogrophy on their user forums. Internet spammers who sign up to become members at unmanaged websites that have hidden webpages can post images of children and explicit pornography. Drugs are also advertised via links to other websites.
It has often been argued by supporters of Desmond Connell that he had been left to clean up the sins of the past and that he himself was relatively blameless. And there is indeed some truth to this. For instance, it was Connell who initiated the process to defrock two notorious Dublin paedophile priests, Tony Walsh and William (Bill) Carney, both of whom were subsequently convicted.
The private official inquiry into clerical sex abuse is likely to reveal a level of abuse and cover-up far worse than anything revealed so far . By Mary Raftery
Once again the annual crime statistics have been wilfully sensationalised by the media and politicians.
Pat Rabbitte, now the Labour Party spokesperson on justice, said the figures confirmed reports of a significant rise in crime, especially violent crime.
A total of 58 people are suspected of being murdered this year. This compares to the total last year when 60 people were murdered. In 2005 52 people were murdered. According to recently released CSO murders were up in the first three quarter of this year compare to last year. In the first three quarters of last year 42 people had been killed, this year there were 48. Gun murders to date are the same with 17. A quarter of all suspected murders so far in 2007 (up to 17 December) were suspected to be related to gangs. Well over half (55 per cent) arose from personal or domestic circumstances.
The Irish media has extensively covered the Madeleine McCann case, yet there has been no mention of 79 children currently missing in Ireland
By Emma Browne
Since 1996 138 women have been murdered in Ireland, a majority of these relating to domestic violence. Far more women have been murdered by domestic violence than there have been gangland killings and yet the latter gets all the media and political attention. Research, by Women's Aid shows that nearly 48 per cent of the murders were committed by a husband, ex-husband, partner or ex-partner. And 63 per cent of the women were killed in their own homes.
A report in October's Garda Review says that the number of gardaí now needed to police club soccer matches with more than 3,500 people in attendance is similar to number required to police the All-Ireland Final at Croke Park.
Four of Ireland's most senior officials in swimming have been convicted of crimes against children in the last few years, yet the state has done little to help the victims of this abuse or deal with the incidence of sex crime in Ireland. By Justine McCarthy