The most recent violent incident on the streets of Dublin leading to the death of Brian Murphy has led to calls ranging from an increase in Garda numbers and the establishment of a task force on youth violence to designating certain prisons for people convicted of assault. The Assistant Garda Commissioner, Mr Jim McHugh said a new garda operation, Operation Oiche, piloted in south Dublin, now aimed to combat street crime.
"Public order offences are currently top of the agenda and our aim is to maximise the Garda presence on the streets and to make that presence more visible," said Mr McHugh. He said enforcement would be "more vigorous" but added that a multi-agency approach was necessary and the role of parents was vital.
Mr McHugh also released crime figures for 1999 showing 9,500 prosecutions for offences such as breach of the peace and being drunk and disorderly, in addition to 3,600 convictions for assault, including 150 for serious assaults. However, the Fine Gael TD, Ms Frances Fitzgerald, insisted that official statistics reflected only a fraction of the number of violent assaults and unprovoked attacks that occur in the State.
Figures released last week showed five of the nine hospital casualty departments in Dublin had dealt with over 1,400 assaults so far this year. She said it appeared many attacks were not being reported to the gardai. "We have an emerging social problem of increased violence. My own background is as a social worker so I know when I am beginning to see a trend, and it is frightening."
Ms Fitzgerald said the streets must be reclaimed through increased policing, and stressed that more reliable statistics must be collated so problem areas could be targeted. She also stressed that the lack of late-night public transport led to young people wandering in their efforts to find transport. The director of psychology at St Joseph's Adolescent Services, Ms Marie Murray, said the increased levels of violence were down to young people having become desensitised after growing up on a diet of violent television programmes and films.
She said "a lethal cocktail" existed in today's media-based society that had led to a blurring of boundaries and rules. An "incredible breakdown" had occurred in the distinction between adulthood and childhood and of the difference between reality and fantasy.
"Our children are rewarded for behaving violently in video games. Many of them no longer relate to what another person experiences when they are harmed or maimed," Ms Murray said. "All through the years there has been an element of young people rebelling but this generation is showing a murderous, vicious quality never seen before." Ms Lillian McGovern, of Victim Support, called for the establishment of a specialised task force to examine the issue of youth violence.
"At this stage, the commentary has run out. Now it is about everyone getting together and enacting concrete and positive proposals."
She described the incident, which occurred outside the Burlington Hotel, as appalling. "I have an 18-year-old and I find this terrifying. Everyone is appalled at this incident."
Last night, Fine Gael TD Mr Tom Enright said the Government should designate Portlaoise Prison and Spike Island as penal institutions for people convicted of assault causing serious bodily harm.
"The mindless savagery and blatant thuggery happening nightly on our streets, now unfortunately a regular feature of modern Irish society, has to be tackled and stopped.
"The Government must take action against persons convicted of assaults causing serious bodily harm and should designate Spike Island and Portlaoise Prison for this purpose," he added.