Long-term community support vital in tackling gang violence – Mary Lou McDonald

MARY Lou McDonald says a robust Garda response coupled with initiatives to tackle neglect and social exclusion are needed to address ongoing problems in Dublin's north inner city, where there has been a spate of killings linked to a criminal feud in recent weeks.

Speaking to An Phoblacht shortly after a meeting with the Joint Policing Committee on Friday, the Sinn Féin deputy leader said she is angry about the situation in her constituency:

“I'm angry and fearful for the community who are very much on edge,” Mary Lou says. 

“I'm angry, not because these particular killings could have been predicted, but because everybody knows that for generations parts of our city and country have been left behind. And that is the story in the north inner city.”

So far, seven people have been killed in the feud between the

Hutch and Kinahan gangs.

Four of the killings have taken place within the north inner city, a geographically small area in Dublin. The dead include 24-year-old Martin O'Rourke who was killed on Sheriff Street in what is believed to have been a case of mistaken identity.

On Tuesday, Gareth Hutch was shot dead outside his apartment on North Cumberland Street.

Commenting on what needs to be done in the short-term, Mary Lou says a strong Garda response is vital:

“At the meeting this morning I was very heartened to hear Chief Superintendent Pat Leahy say publicly that he is very confident that those responsible will be brought to justice. We need to support the gardaí in their work and they need to have all the resources they nrequire. In turn, the gardaí need to support the community.”

She says the central aim of the police service must be to pursue those responsible for the recent spate of horrific murders:

“There is also a really important element to the policing which is to reassure and to keep safe everybody else as they go about their daily business in the community.”

Three weeks ago in the Dáil, Mary Lou McDonald demanded the Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald look at a tailored response and task force for the inner city. She says she is pleased that it now seems that the Government has conceded to that demand:

“This needs to be about making a long-term commitment to the area by the state, irrespective of who is in Government. It needs investment in the social fabric – communities, housing, education and decent work – and changing the dynamic in the area,” she says.

Mary Lou describes the residents of the North Inner City as “formidable people” but says they do not have the same standard of housing, access to employment, educational outcomes or equality of opportunity as many other parts of Dublin.

“That is not just a fact recently, that has been a fact for decades,” she says.

Mary Lou says this should not be about simply weathering the storm:

“This level of neglect and exclusion has gone on for generations, now it stops. This task force is about drawing a line in the sand – we need to be dealing with the consequences of that neglect – the casual drug dealing, the fact that good kids get wrapped up in a life of drugs or ending up in prison. We need to deal with all that. But we need to deal with all the causes of this in a way that is imaginative and long-lasting.”

She also hits out at a number of websites such as the Irish Independent and Irish Mirror who have hosted a video of CCTV footage showing the killing of Gareth Hutch.

“There was CCTV of the killing uploaded to various media outlets. I raised that today with Chief Superintendent Pat Leahy and I have been informed that there is a Garda investigation into the leaking of that CCTV footage.”

Mary Lou had previously called for the footage to be removed. Some news outlets, such as the Irish Times have deleted the video from their websites.

“Firstly, for a community that already feels very traumatised, it is not acceptable to broadcast such footage. This is where people live. This is not a soap opera, this is not an episode of Love/Hate. This is reality, and this reality is miserable, awful and frightening.

“Obviously, for the family concerned where a child has lost a father, it is deeply, deeply insensitive to broadcast footage like that. It almost glamorises what has happened, but this is not glamorous, it is repulsive, disgusting and unacceptable.”