There were 12 murders in the first three months of this year, an increase of five on the same period last year, according to figures released yesterday by Minister for Justice Michael McDowell. The Minister said the latest crime statistics were "not good" and he was "particularly concerned" at the increase in the murder rate. Of the 12 murders, four involved guns.
The overall headline crime rate for the first quarter of 2006 rose by 8 per cent, compared with the same period last year.
Mr McDowell also published figures for April 2005 to March 2006 which showed a 7 per cent increase in headline crimes compared with the previous year.
Burglaries and offences against property accounted for much of the increase in the first quarter of this year.
Both thefts from vehicles and aggravated burglaries increased by 25 per cent while thefts from shops and other burglaries rose by 12 per cent.
Mr McDowell linked the increase in burglaries with the drugs trade.
"Everyone who consumes any kind of drug, be it cocaine, be it the new crystal meth, be it marijuana or cannabis, anybody who consumes those substances participates in the world of crime and makes the task of the drug gangs more profitable," he said.
Burglaries, thefts and muggings were all carried out to fund these drug gangs, he added.
The Minister warned that crystal meth, a highly addictive synthetic drug, might become popular here as it was a "fashionable drug" in the UK.
"And I assume that these things will turn up in Ireland as well. I think it's unlikely that something would happen there among the drug-taking classes and not be reflected here, but at the moment it isn't as serious as cocaine."
He said he was allocating €10 million to special Garda operations to tackle certain crimes such as burglary. Regional Garda Commissioners and divisional chief superintendents have been ask to counteract these crimes by devising strategies to track down and prosecute persistent offenders.
The Minister said the Garda Commissioner was confident that there would be "a substantial improvement" in figures for the rest of the year because of this new focused strategy.
Mr McDowell said he was not claiming that the crime statistics were good. "They're not good figures and there's no room for complacency." However, crime per head of population had fallen in the past two years, he added. "Ireland is not becoming statistically a more dangerous place."
Mr McDowell said he and the commissioner were "entirely agreed that resources now are not the issue in relation to the Garda fight against crime".
Some 275 people were graduating every 90 days from Templemore and the Government's commitment to expand the force was "100 per cent on target".
He said the crime statistics masked some of the recent "spectacular success" of gardaí in breaking open drug gang activities and making huge drug seizures.
He also welcomed the 36 per cent decrease in sexual crimes for the first quarter of the year.
Fine Gael's justice spokesman, Jim O'Keeffe, said the crime figures showed that Mr McDowell had lost the fight against crime.
Labour Party justice spokesman Brendan Howlin said it was clear that Mr McDowell's crime strategy was not working.
