Taoiseach to visit Darndale, Coolock ‘as soon as I can find time’

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will visit communities affected by the gangland killings in Coolock and Kilmore West, Dublin "as soon as I can find a little time".

Mr Varadkar said he shared the “collective revulsion at the killings that have happened in different parts of Dublin and Drogheda in recent weeks”.

And he wanted to “express solidarity with the communities in which these killings have happened”.

Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan had spoken on Wednesday to Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and will visit the area.

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“I will do the same as soon as I can find a little time,” said Mr Varadkar.

“The people who live in the northeast inner city, Darndale and Drogheda and in Corduff in my constituency are good, hardworking people. They have a right to feel safe in their homes and communities.”

The Taoiseach was responding to Sinn Féin's David Cullinane who said gardaí were fighting organised crime "with one hand tied behind their back. They are confined by a lack of resources and personnel." There are now fewer gardaí than there were 10 years ago, he added.

He highlighted the murder in Coolock on Tuesday and a similar murder in Darndale in a laneway adjacent to a primary school.

“And these followed from a spate of other shootings and killings in the past weeks and months in Dublin, Drogheda, and part of the country with numerous people dead and injured because of criminal feuds.”

He said “people are living in fear and they deserve better . . . I acknowledge the complexity and challenges of dealing with gang feuds and the reality is that the Government is not doing enough”.

Mr Varadkar said, however, that they had taken action and provided “unprecedented resources”. The Garda budget had increased to €1.76 billion for this year, the highest allocation ever.

“The total number of gardaí is now back up to 14,000 and the figure reaches 17,000 if we include civilian staff.”

There is an armed support unit in every Garda region and a 24/7 armed-support unit in the Dublin area and 600 gardaí entered training this year, although there would be some retirements.

New headquarters had been established in Galway and Wexford.

Mr Cullinane said there are many towns and villages across the State without Garda stations.

But the Taoiseach said “it makes sense to have new modern Garda stations, not small ones based on an old fashioned policing model that dates back long before mobile phones and Garda cars”.