A man implicated in Donna Cleary's killing could have got 10 years - six years ago, writes Conor Lally.
Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has said the killing of Donna Cleary marks a watershed in the country's social thinking around gun crime and the drugs trade linked to it.
He has said all those involved in the administration of the law, including the judiciary, must now reflect on what has come to pass: the shooting dead of an innocent young mother.
Mr McDowell and Tony Gregory TD have long complained that minimum 10-year sentences for those involved in organised drug dealing, in which almost all armed criminals are involved, has become the exception rather than the norm.
The issue has now come firmly into focus given revelations that one of the men involved in Donna Cleary's killing would have still been in jail if a 10-year sentence had been handed down when he was caught with drugs six years ago.
The judiciary seems to regularly take advantage of leeway given to it on mandatory sentencing under the Criminal Justice Act, 1999. This allows judges to impose a sentence of less than 10 years in exceptional circumstances.
The Act created a new offence of possession of drugs with intent to supply with a value of £10,000 (€12,700) or more, for which a mandatory 10-year term would be imposed.
The Act stipulates that this sentence must be imposed unless a judge is satisfied there are exceptional and specific circumstances relating to the offence or the person convicted.
A review of the legislation ordered in December 2001 revealed that, up to that point, 130 cases had come before the courts where the 10-year term could have been handed down. However, that sentence was imposed in just five cases.
This picture will have to change if an environment is to be created where keeping illegal firearms becomes a very high-risk activity and where using them will likewise result in very lengthy prison sentences.
The investigation into Donna Cleary's murder looks to be progressing well. Five people, including the three main suspects, were being questioned last night. Criminal charges may follow as early as today.
But bigger questions remain. Aside from the difficulties with mandatory sentencing for drugs offences, are judges too lenient when dealing with those convicted of non-fatal gun crime?
If Donna Cleary's life had not been lost, how would the courts have treated those who opened fire on partygoers in Coolock on Sunday morning?
A brief look at some recent gun crime cases poses difficult questions for the judiciary.
In one recent case, a man of previously good character was given a suspended sentence when convicted of an armed bank robbery where a number of staff were threatened.
Last year a young Dublin man found with cocaine worth €125,000 and a firearm was jailed for four years - despite the fact that, excluding the firearm offence, possession of drugs with a value in excess of €12,700 is supposed to result in a 10-year term. Simple possession of a firearm carries a maximum sentence of 10 years. Using a firearm in the commission of a crime, where premeditated intent to endanger life is absent, carries a tariff of up to 14 years.
Mr McDowell has already indicated that under the Criminal Justice Bill currently going through the houses of the Oireachtas, possession of a firearm will carry a mandatory sentence of five years.
However, given that the judiciary has largely ignored mandatory sentencing in relation to drugs offences, Mr McDowell has no grounds to feel confident the new firearms sentencing regime will be adhered to.