Government record on tackling crime defended by Paschal Donohoe

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has defended work by the Government and gardaí to tackle the gun crime that claimed the life of a 27-year-old man in Dublin's inner city on Tuesday night.

Jason Molyneux, a father of one, was shot outside his home at James Larkin House, a north inner city flats complex, at about 9.45pm.

Molyneux was associated with the Hutch family and was a very close friend of Derek Coakley Hutch (27), who was shot dead in west Dublin last Saturday week. He was the 14th person to die as part of the feud between the Kinahan and Hutch families.

Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime programme, Mr Donohoe said the strategy by gardaí and the Government to stop such crime happening and to create a long-term environment in which the causes of it were dealt with was continuing.

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Asked if there would be more “outrage” if the killings were happening in a middle class part of Dublin or in a middle class area of any part of the country, Mr Donohoe responded: “My God, I hope you can feel the outrage I feel in relation to it.”

He defended the length of time it was taking to reopen Fitzgibbon Street Garda station in the north inner city, close to where Molyneaux was shot dead.

When it was put to him that former taoiseach Enda Kenny had visited the area two years ago and had then spoken about reopening the station, Mr Donohoe said: "When we announced the reopening of Fitzgibbon Street Garda station, (we said) in the same statement that it would take a number of years to do because of the difficulty in that particular building and we've met our commitments in relation to it. But there are many other things that we've said would happen before then that have happened."

Mr Donohoe, who is a Fine Gael TD for the Dublin Central constituency, said the independent regeneration board the Government had put in place to oversee this work had met on Tuesday morning.

“I want to make clear that the outrage I feel is obviously exacerbated because it’s happening in a community that I’m lucky enough to represent. But regardless of where this happens, this kind of terror and crime is unacceptable,” he added.

He said the work by gardaí to seize guns and explosives over the past year, as well as the arrests they had made had “had an effect” on crime.

“We need to keep at it, keep supporting our guards, and keep on with the regeneration work that I have referred to.”

Mr Donohoe said “millions” were being invested in an inner-city housing project to address the need that was there. The same was being done with sports facilities and schools.

“My commitment to that is only redoubled as a result of what happened last night,” he said.

Mr Donohoe said he would have met people affected by violence in the course of representing all parts of his constituency and all the communities he represented. “I do not know the victim and I do not know the perpetrator but I know the communities and families inside which (this) has happened,” he said.

“The grief that all people feel as a result of the kind of violence that happened last night is equal and it’s one of the reasons for which we have to continue with our work to respond back to this type of violence.”

Mr Donohoe said the violence was raised with him “on a continual basis” but that people could also point to signs of progress.

“I’m going to continue to put in place the kind of work that we are doing at the moment and will always look at ways in which we can do it better.”