Crime bosses are directing killings from behind bars through the use of smuggled mobile phones, according to senior gardaí.
Senior officers from Dublin are to urge their colleagues this week to back demands for a phone blocking system in prisons to combat the growing murder toll.
They will also ask for the force to put pressure on the Government to declare a "national emergency" over the surge in gun crime.
The calls are to be made at the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors' annual conference, which opens tonight in Wexford.
Minister for Justice Michael McDowell will address the senior officers ahead of pleas for increased action to deal with Ireland's violent drug gangs.
During the conference, gardaí from Dublin Metropolitan Region's south central division will ask their representative body's national executive to seek the immediate installation of a system that would block the use of mobile phones in the state's jails.
The senior officers also raise their concerns about the "erosion of democracy" caused by the murders while demanding "a national emergency" be declared.
They will also call for the creation of a civic forum to help find solutions to the increase of violence in Ireland.
PA