By Andrew Carey
andrew@limerickpost.ie
The Minister for Justice has vowed to be relentless in tackling serious organised crime in Limerick and the rest of the country so as to prevent a filling of the vacuum in the wake of recent murder convictions.
Speaking in Limerick this Thursday where she met with the most senior members of An Garda Siochana who have managed to disrupt the illegal activities of one of the country’s most violent gangs, Minister Frances Fitzgerald warned that following the successful work done by the force to secure recent convictions, “we are going to be relentless in continuing to interrupt criminal activity and gangland crime”
The Minister’s comments came as she met with head of the Limerick Division Chief Superintendent Dave Sheahan and his team at Roxboro Garda Station where she was briefed on the work undertaken by Gardai in the region in recent years in their fight against serious crime.
As a Limerick native, she said “I wanted to come here to Limerick and speak to the Gardai, who have been working on the ground here in such difficult circumstances over such a long period, to hear about the work they have been doing and really to thank them for that frontline work.
Chief Superintendent Dave Sheahan said that the links built with people through community policing allowed there to be a resilient approach to organised crime. He said that the Minister wanted to be briefed on the work done and how Limerick has turned around in the last number of years.
“Our links with the community and our ability to be able to communicate with the public is absolutely core to everything we do. If anything, we need to improve on that and going forward in the next year or so, that is going to be my plan,” outlined Limerick’s most senior garda.
Referencing that witness statements were and continue to be a crucial element in securing convictions against some of the country’s most feared criminals, Minister Fitzgerald said that “protecting witnesses and working with the community has been essential.” adding that good community policing and good relations within those areas would continue to be key in interrupting criminal activity.
The Minister would not be drawn on individual cases of witnesses making key statements but said in general terms that, people who do so are owed a huge debt of gratitude.
See the video here.
