Murder, Rape, Burn and Pillage

limerick | crime and justice | opinion/analysis Tuesday September 19, 2006 19:29 by Seán Ryan

Crime in Limerick is spiralling out of control. Another man was killed in Moyross on Sunday night after being shot in the head.

McDowell reckons that the Gardaí are doing a "fantastic job."

Fat Frankie Ryan was shot in the head on Sunday night in Moyross in Limerick, a very short distance from where two young children were set on fire last week. As with other such chilling incidents, this is probably all on film. Local cctv captures most of the crime in Moyross, not like our Gardaí there, who rarely show their faces.

Whilst I’ve been writing this article another attempted murder occurred in Limerick, shots have again been fired – this time nobody was hurt – thankfully. http://www.midlandsradio.fm/news_detail.aspx?news_id=2921

Mc Dowell’s happy with the Gardaí and their inability to stop crime in Moyross. I for one (and I suspect that I’m not the only person from Moyross and from Limerick to feel this way) am not.

Crime in Limerick has been escalating since the 1970’s. It shows no sign of abating. Willie O’Dea a fellow Limerick man has gushed that there have been 16 extra Gardaí drafted into Limerick following the sickening firebomb attack that left two children from Moyross fighting for their lives. Compare this with 40 extra Gardaí being drafted into Shannon to protect the airport from the Ploughshares. And don’t mention the 600 odd personnel required to protect Bush from 6 protesters earlier this year when he stopped off in Shannon for a photo op: http://www.indymedia.ie/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=74...40551

There was a time in Limerick (when I was a youngfella) that if you had a problem with someone, a few slaps would’ve sorted it out – with no comeback. Today, if you look at somebody wrong, your windows will be shot in that night – at best. You might be assaulted and possibly killed there and then.

No longer does the name ‘Stab City,’ seem apt. I mean it’s still pretty easy to be stabbed, but it’s just as easy to be shot or beaten to death.

There are no politicians living in the most violent areas in Limerick.

There is a desperation that pervades in many areas. The Gardaí are totally ineffective and are not trusted by local communities, despite the shite that’s been spun in the media in the last few weeks. The Gardaí spend their time catching speeding motorists and should the venture into the likes of Moyross, are to be found hassling the local kids – drug searches etc. They most certainly could not be described as ‘Guardians of the Peace’ in these areas.

Here’s a few links that expand upon the picture I’ve posted above:

McDowell 18th September 2006: ““He said gardaí in Limerick were doing a "fantastic job" in tackling local criminals and denied the Government had abandoned the city.””
http://www.breakingnews.ie/2006/09/18/story277269.html This link gives more info on the demise of Fat Frankie Ryan.

Murder:

McDowell 26th May 2003: “There are very practical reasons for the Central Criminal Court coming to sit in Limerick. There are a number of murder trials due to be heard by the Court where the accused are from Limerick. These trials will involve the calling of a considerable number of witnesses, particularly Garda witnesses. To conduct these trials in Limerick will, therefore, lead to less cost, less inconvenience for civil witnesses and, most important of all, result in Gardai having to spend a much lesser amount of time away from their normal policing duties.
Needless to say, I am concerned at the recent serious criminal activities in Limerick...” http://www.justice.ie/80256E01003A02CF/vWeb/pcJUSQ5XNBTL-en

McDowell 28th February 2004: “…The reason I have done this is that I believe there has been a perceptible but consistent diminution in the perceived value of human life in our society and, in particular, in the context of the intentional crime of murder. Finding, as I did, that some participants in recent Limerick clan feuding had served less than 7 years for a premeditated murder, I believe that the message must now go out to anyone who uses intentional violence as part of their lifestyle that if such intentional violence results in a murder conviction that they will stay in jail for a very, very long time indeed. Having said that my own personal conviction is that there are only very few people for whom the prospect of rehabilitation should not be held out as a realistic, if remote, possibility. It's very important that public support for and confidence in the criminal justice system should be rebuilt and strengthened.” http://www.justice.ie/80256E01003A02CF/vWeb/pcJUSQ5XUD5V-en

Willie O’Dea 19th November 2003: “Last night, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform outlined the murder statistics in this State. He pointed out that most murders since 1997 are not, in so far as can be determined, gangland related. However, the statistics relating to the city I represent are somewhat different. There have been 40 murders in Limerick since 1997, most of them gang-related. The chief superintendent of the Limerick Garda division has supplied figures relating to these murders.” http://www.irlgov.ie/debates-03/19Nov/Sect6.htm

Rape:

http://breaking.tcm.ie/2005/09/13/story220590.html

http://www2.limerickpost.ie/dailynews.elive?id=6059&cat...y-Fri (One should remember when reading this article that less than 50 cases of rape were tried in our courts last year, in the whole country!)

http://www.villagemagazine.ie/article.asp?sid=1&sud=10&...=1514

http://www.progressivedemocrats.ie/press_room/1862/ Former Party Leader Mary Harney says she shares the outrage which followed the release of a man jailed for the statutory rape of a 12-year-old girl.

Burn:

Struggle to survive in this wasteland that the people of Moyross call home http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=...14655

http://www.limerickpost.ie/dailynews.elive?id=7640&cate...y-Thu

Jim Kemmy 11th March 1992: “Moyross is the largest housing estate in Limerick and is situated on the north side of the city. There are more than 1,200 houses in the estate. There are 294 houses in the Glenagross Park section of which 70 are boarded up… Some have been burned out and it is like a sight from Beirut…” http://www.oireachtas-debates.gov.ie/D/0417/D.0417.1992....html

http://www2.limerickpost.ie/fullnews.elive?id=50&catego...=news

Pillage:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0309/Limerick.html

http://www.clarechampion.ie/clch/www/index.asp?magpage=...d=491

http://www.rte.ie/news/2003/1030/limerick.html

http://www.checkout.ie/News.asp?ID=364

More bits and pieces: Where Gardai fear to thread.. http://indymedia.ie/article/78444 There are more links at the bottom of my comment in this piece that lead to some more of my musings on this subject.