THERE was a broad welcome for the Government's announcement of proposed changes in the bail laws and other legal reforms, but a leading barrister sounded a note of caution.
A spokesman for the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors said it welcomed the measures.
"The AGSI of course welcomes these belated moves, moves which we have been demanding for many years. They are merely common-sense measures to strengthen the criminal justice system.
"In our opinion they represent absolutely no threat to the law-abiding citizen", he added.
"These measures are absolutely necessary so that criminals will know that we have an effective criminal justice system - instead of the shambles we have now".
Mr P.J. Stone, of the Garda Representative Association, also welcomed the Government statement. But he said the right to silence restriction should not be limited only to drugs cases. "Unless the right to silence change is applied to other offences, I think we will be disappointed."
The chairman of the Bar Council, Mr James Nugent, said law reform should be debated "in better times".
"When the initial shock dies down, we should be looking very carefully at the whole issue of crime. If fundamental freedoms are taken away by any proposal would be dead against it, but equally we must see what we can do to cope with our present problems in this country.
He welcomed the initial proposal that any refusal of bail would be dealt with firstly by a court, and reviewed by a court in a short time.
The Progressive Democrats' Justice spokesperson, Ms Liz O'Donnell, said the Minister was now proposing "carbon copies" of Bills previously rejected. However, she welcomed the moves, which were "long overdue".
The Labour Party has previously been considered opposed to the type of bail referendum announced last night. In February, the Tanaiste, Mr Spring, said the suggestion had been made that people should be denied bail if they might commit more serious crime. He pointed out that "everyone is innocent until proven guilty" and added: "Would it not be better to consider seriously an alternative approach?"
The Fianna Fail justice spokesman, Mr John O'Donoghue, said that, while he welcomed the Government's move, it was "an extraordinary thing" that Fianna Fail had introduced Bills with "what I can only describe as exactly similar measures" last year and the Government had voted them down. He said the Minister for Justice had rejected the measures then as a matter of political expediency, and now, in a display of further political expediency and in response to public pressure, she was accepting them.
However, he was very pleased that the Government was taking some action.