FINE GAEL has called on Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern to formulate a policing response to vigilante activity in Co Cavan, where a group with links to the Real IRA has claimed to have disbanded a criminal gang in the town.
The party’s spokesman on justice Charlie Flanagan said Mr Ahern should ensure that “local communities turn to the gardaí to rid themselves of drug dealers, rather than turning to vigilantes”.
He said dissident vigilantes were effectively patrolling the streets around the Border. The 32 County Sovereignty Movement was already claiming credit for forcing six drug dealers out of Cavan town following requests for help from members of the public.
“This dissident group claims to be patrolling the streets in Fermanagh and Cavan as well as distributing leaflets claiming members won’t stand idly by while this community is attacked by anti-social elements led by sinister, criminal figures,” he said.
Mr Flanagan urged Mr Ahern to properly resource the Garda, particularly in areas where drug dealing was a problem. Anecdotal evidence suggested Garda personnel who had been working along the Border had been deployed elsewhere to tackle gangland crime. Mr Ahern should immediately meet Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy to discuss the matter.
A Garda spokesman said the force had no comment to make on claims by the 32 County Sovereignty Movement. However, he said any criminal activity of which the Garda became aware or was reported by the public was investigated within the rule of law.
The 32 County Sovereignty Movement issued a statement claiming to have disbanded a group called the Cavan Rebellion Gang. The statement said the gang had five leading members – one local, three from Limerick and one from Dublin – who had become a bad influence on local young people, encouraging them into drug dealing, extortion, stealing firearms and a range of robbery and public disorder offences.
