The deeply distressed response of young widow Jodie Ward to the murder of her husband Edward in Dublin last Friday demonstrated in an almost palpable manner the human cost of violent crime.
Mr Ward (24) and Brian Downes (40) were shot 10 times in an attack in which Mr Downes is thought to have been the primary target. Their deaths were followed on Monday by another gangland-style murder in which Gary Grant (25) died in Limerick. That attack was the seventh shooting in the area in two weeks and occurred despite the presence nearby of members of the armed Garda Emergency Response Unit.
These incidents, in tandem with the death of a Polish man in Limerick on Sunday, a week after he was involved in a brawl, and the brutal murder in Galway of a teenage Swiss student just days after she arrived in Ireland, constitute a grim sequence that illustrates a persistent diminution in the value accorded to human life.
The political response to the murders of Mr Ward and Mr Downes was initially constructive, with the emphasis on empowering local communities to identify the criminals responsible. Unfortunately, that response has descended in the meantime into the realm of sound-bite and political point scoring. On the basis of experience, however, this outcome was entirely predictable.
One of the final acts of the outgoing Oireachtas last April was to enact a new Criminal Justice Bill. It broadened the categories of offence for which suspects can be detained for seven days, laid down mandatory sentences for certain drug-related crimes, introduced changes to the right to silence and revised bail provisions.
This legislation, the third of its kind introduced by the outgoing coalition, eroded fundamental principles of civil rights which have served our justice system well over many decades. And it was passed without any detailed analysis of weaknesses in existing law or research into the escalation in the frequency of specific crimes. Those advocating the legislation contended that the case for it had been buttressed by a rash of gangland murders in the previous months. In truth, however, as the events of the last seven days have demonstrated, it was a pre-election panacea which has not prevented serious criminality and may yet have negative consequences.
Wiser political voices are correct in counselling that there is no simple solution, legislative or otherwise, to serious crime. Complex problems demand a multi-dimensional response. In this instance, that means ensuring that the Garda can operate to world class standards of efficiency by implementing the recommendations of the Garda Inspectorate and the Garda Management Advisory Group. It means funding for specialist Garda operations that stymie the activities of criminals as well as an enhanced focus on depriving them of their assets.
And at a more visionary level, it means addressing what has always been the Cinderella of crime minimisation: resourcing communities to help them divert their young people away from crime.