Communities urged to 'turn in' criminals who live in their midst

Fine Gael Dublin South East TD Brian Hayes - in whose constituency the double murder took place - urged communities to turn in the gangland criminals who live among them.

Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan defended Government policy on tackling such crime. He said that the Criminal Assets Bureau is now targeting small drug dealers as part of the struggle against organised crime.

"We are going to increase the number of divisional profilers at local level who feed the information into the Cab [Criminal Assets Bureau], that will allow the Cab to target the lower and middle drug dealers," he said last night.

Speaking on RTÉ's Week in Politics, Mr Lenihan said that the bureau had been a huge success in targeting criminals who dealt in large amounts of money.

"But it is very important that the Cab get to tackle people at the lower end, because they provide the visible local example of how crime pays and that is underway now," he said.

Fine Gael shadow spokesman on education and science Brian Hayes talking about the dismay at the double killing in his constituency said: "Yet again a family home has been directly targeted by gangland criminals. It shows how gangland is increasingly spilling over into everyday life, and how little these murderers care about the families and innocent bystanders . . . Worst of all, the six-year-old son of one of the victims is understood to have run to the scene after the shooting."

He said that the shootings had taken place close to one of the busiest intersections in the country - some 100m from Walkinstown roundabout - where thousands of cars pass through every day and which has a large residential community.

"The gangland situation is now so serious that all citizens must realise they have a role to play. The gardaí are fighting gangland to the best of their ability . . . That is why our communities must turn in the murderers who live among them.

"These criminals have families of their own who invariably know about their activities. Turning these murderers in to the gardaí will be an act of mercy and will save further lives," said Mr Hayes.