Minister for Justice Michael McDowell is to bring proposals to Cabinet tomorrow aimed at tackling gangland crime in the wake of another fatal shooting in Limerick last night.
The man (40) who was shot dead in Limerick last night is believed to have been an innocent victim of a feud between warring factions in the city's O'Malley Park estate.
He was named locally as Noel Crawford, whose five-year-old nephew Jordan was shot in the leg in a similar gun attack last month.
Speaking after a meeting with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy today, Mr McDowell said he will put proposals before the Cabinet tomorrow. However, he declined to elaborate on the measures.
"You can rest assured that every single area where there can be tightening up or improvement is under very close consideration," he said.
"Some of the issues are capable of fairly rapid implementation. Others will take a further amount of time," the Minister said after the hour-and-a-half meeting with Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy and his deputy, Fachtna Murphy.
"But what we want to do is to have a green light for every possible step to be taken that is within our power to confront these very evil people. And they are very evil people and nobody should be under any illusion of that.
"They have an agenda to cause suffering and pain and sorrow to a lot of people through drugs, through firearms, through murder. And it's our intention to ensure that the rule of law in this State is upheld, that it's enforceable and that it's vigorous in its application," he said.
Mr McDowell has insisted demands by the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors today to extend the remit of the non-jury Special Criminal Court to deal with gangland crime would not be tolerated by the Supreme Court.
The AGSI's general secretary, Joe Dirwan, called for the Special Criminal Court to be used to ensure criminals are jailed.
"It is now time to put the criminal justice system firmly on the side of victims and their families - like the families of Anthony Campbell and Alan Cunniffe - and to ensure that hardened criminals are put behind bars where they belong," Mr Dirwan said.
Mr Dirwan said the Special Criminal Court had been successful in dealing with serious subversive criminals in the past. "Modern criminals have formed alliances with former subversives to terrorise communities. It is time for the criminal justice system to gear up and respond in a firm way in the defence of our society."
He added that criminals had "no qualms" about intimidating witnesses. They also delayed trials by getting bail, by demanding trial by jury and by lodging complaints against prosecuting gardaí.
The Labour Party said the murder of yet another man in Limerick "emphasises the seriousness of the problem of gun murders facing Irish society".
Justice spokesman Brendan Howlin said he hoped today's emergency meeting pointed to a change of approach and a recognition that new measures are needed if more people were not to fall victim to "the new and ruthless breed of gang bosses".
Fine Gael argued at least 225 gardaí could have been freed up from desk duties and put back on the beat if Mr McDowell had followed up on his promise to bring more civilians into the force.
Justice spokesman Jim O'Keeffe said civilians should replace gardaí doing routine work in personnel, finance and public relations.
"Typically, the Minister for Justice sat on this issue and has only agreed to a civilianisation programme with a general election on the way. Even if he fast-tracks the civilianisation programme it will be many months before it has any impact on the force," he said.
Labour and Fine Gael will tomorrow publish a joint policy on Garda reform and community policing.
Additional reporting: PA