An additional 50 gardaí are to be allocated to fighting organised crime in Dublin following last night's 18th gang-related murder in and around the city this year.
Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy today allocated the officers to the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation with the sole duty of targeting organised crime gangs. The unit will be headed by Detective Chief Superintendent Noel White.
It will work closely with the Criminal Assets Bureau, the National Drug Unit, the Bureau of Fraud Investigation and Special Detective Unit. It will also assist operational divisions in the Dublin Metropolitan Region, working closely with Garda personnel employed on Operation Anvil.
The move follows the murder of a 27-year-old man in north Dublin last night which has led to Fine Gael saying that Operation Anvil - the €6.5 million operation launched against drug gangs last May - has failed.
The murder has been linked to the resurgent gangland feuding that last Sunday saw two men shot dead in Firhouse. It is not known if last night's shooting was a reprisal attack.
The 27-year-old man was shot dead in a car outside the Yacht Pub on the Clontarf Road at 10.30 last night. The driver of the car escaped and may have been injured and gardai are keen to track him down.
Fine Gael justice spokesman Jim O'Keeffe said Dublin is becoming like Chicago in the 1930s after what was the 18th gang killing in the Dublin area this year.
He said the Minister for Justice Michael McDowell's failure to increase Garda manpower and resources as promised in the last General Election was one of the reasons why gang killings continue.
He also criticised Mr McDowell for failing to criminalise gang membership after allocating €6.5 million to a special anti-gang project, Operation Anvil, in May this year.
"The operation clearly has not worked, principally because it needs to be an ongoing initiative to stamp out gangland crime, and not a short-term measure," Mr O'Keeffe said.
He later commended the announcement of the unit but said it must be properly resourced if it is to succeed. "I believe this unit must be provided with the most modern technology and equipment to enable its members to do their job effectively," he said.
He also called for special legislation imposing strict sentences of members of criminal gangs to be brought forward as a matter of urgency.
Labour's Joe Costello also welcomed the announcement and called for proper resourcing of the unit but said it was regrettable that so many had to be killed "to jolt Minister McDowell out of his complacency". "Costs should not be an issue," he added.
He said the only way gangs can be put off the streets is through "a sustained, high-powered, intensive surveillance and detection operation of the type ordered by the rainbow government after the murder of Veronica Guerin".
Minister of State Ivor Callely who is a TD for the area in which last night's attack took place said the new unit must act swiftly before another life is lost.
"There is genuine public concern in communities across our city and it is essential that action is taken.
The events of the past few days have shown that these gangs are ruthless and that anyone who gets in their way is regarded as a target," Mr Callely said.
Mr McDowell defended Operation Anvil on RTÉ Radio this morning saying it had been successful.
"There have been a significant number of arrests for murder in it, a great number of firearms have been taken out of circulation and a huge amount of resources have gone into it and I can tell you the resources that have been put into it have not been wasted," he said.
Last September Garda figures showed 160 weapons had been seized as part of the operation.