When people complained in the past about crime, the saving grace was always that, in the Republic, offences were primarily against property. That is no longer the case. Marie O'Halloran reports on a pattern of serious assaults among young Irish people in urban areas.
An assault in the early hours yesterday morning in south Dublin adds further worrying confirmation of a large increase in crimes against the person. In many incidents, the assaults are unprovoked.
Only last month, the Department of Justice released headline figures from the Garda Commissioner's Crime Report for 2001 which showed a dramatic increase of 93 per cent in assaults over the previous year.
The Garda PULSE computer system meant a more effective reporting of crime, but there could be no doubt that the number of assaults has shown a major increase. Drink is accepted as a factor, but not the only cause.
There are an average of 30 assaults a day, and a growing outbreak of violence among middle-class youths has been increasingly reported during the past two years.
In recent months, Cork has suffered a series of violent incidents. A 28-year-old man remains in a critical condition months after being kicked repeatedly, and a student suffered serious head injuries just weeks later.
In Co Tipperary, a young hurler, P.J. Delaney, was left in a coma for nine days, after a row outside a Thurles nightclub, and out of work for nine months.
An 18-year-old, Brian Murphy, died after a fracas outside the Burlington Hotel in Dublin. This provoked huge reaction, mainly because those involved were from middle-class backgrounds. Four young men have been charged with manslaughter in the case.
Last month, two young men - cousins - were released on bail pending an appeal against their conviction and sentence for reckless endangerment two years previously which led to the death of Mr David Langan following a confrontation in Dublin.
All three men, and another man, had been at a disco earlier and had been drinking. There was a row outside the disco on Camden Street in Dublin and the altercation continued at Portobello Bridge. The victim was struck a number of times. When he fell, he hit the back of his head and received injuries from which he never recovered. He remained in a coma for five days before he died.
The two accused maintained that David Langan had fallen and hit his head, but new evidence emerged after the cousins began talking. Suspicions were hardened, the gardaí reopened the case, the victim's body was exhumed and a case went ahead.
The course of this case may have varied from others, but its initial cause, a row after drink was taken, is replicated in many other incidents.
Within two weeks of this incident, there was another death. An 18-year-old student, Brian Murphy, died outside the Burlingnton Hotel's Club Annabel nightclub. This second death of a schoolboy in two weeks provoked a huge public reaction and led to descriptions of a "culture of thuggery" among middle-class students.
A Celtic Tiger "malaise" has been cited as part of the problem, mixed with uncontrolled drinking. Social marginalisation and educational and social deficits cannot be blamed for many of the recent high-profile cases involving young people from well-off parts of Dublin.
Following publication of the headline crime figures, the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, said he had obtained Government approval to implement key recommendations of the National Crime Council, including the establishment of an expert group on crime statistics and a biennial national crime victimisation survey.
This is in part to examine the adequacy or otherwise of crime statistics.