A member of the Garda Siochana was recovering in the Mater Hospital this weekend after surgery on his arm for compound fractures. He was injured when a stolen car driven by two 18-year-olds rammed his patrol car.
Despite the recent return to mid-1980s "joyriding" levels, there is no centralised government response. In this lacuna, solutions are mainly coming from the communities that are worst hit.
In Coolock, the Priorswood Joyriding Task Force was started in 1999. With assistance from the Garda, the task force commissioned Mr Dave Farrington to write a report outlining causes and appropriate responses. It is now asking the Minister for Justice for funding, most urgently to employ a full-time project co-ordinator.
"It will need to be a multi-organisational response because the causes and effects are so diverse," Mr Farrington said.
He recommends facilities and diversion programmes for teenagers and early school-leavers. "The more resources people have in terms of facilities and money for facilities the easier it is to avoid boredom," he said. "Basically, any measures to reduce inequality including early school-leaving will eventually have an effect on `joyriding'.
"It's very striking how kids who are into sports and music and activities like that don't go through this kind of thing," agrees local TD Mr Tommy Broughan.
He recommends education programmes, including peer programmes, to address mistaken attitudes about the crime. He also puts parenting and family support high on the list of issues requiring health board participation. Education won't be enough without funding for community facilities, according to Mr Broughan. His constituency recently got £300,000 for facilities from the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, but he estimates the real need is closer to £2 million.
"It has been depressing. Lots of clubs are struggling desperately, and it's very difficult to get money for youth sports and activities." The Garda response at local level has been highly commended as practical and positive. Insp Brian Sherry claims the Coolock Resource Unit set up last year to target "joyriding" reduced incidents by 70 per cent in the first few months. He concedes, however, that "it is on the increase again slowly".
Both the task force chairman, Mr John Currie, and Mr Farrington agree there should be more gardai on the ground. "There are only four or five community gardai for the whole Coolock area," said Mr Currie, "I'd love to see more gardai rostered to work in the community full time."
So-called joyriding doesn't exist in the legal sense. Although the offence of "unauthorised taking" of a vehicle to be driven and abandoned is defined to cover "joyriders", figures on incidents, arrests and convictions are confused and inexact.
"The kids can't be charged with `joyriding'," says Mr Farrington, "because there's no offence of joyriding, so they get done for driving without tax and insurance."
A Private Member's Bill tabled by Mr Broughan made it an offence per se. He was dismayed that the Government voted it down, "It's unbelievable that is would be happening still, it's extraordinary. We need a much more vigorous approach to this."
His legislative proposals are backed by Mr Farrington, "I feel it is better to address the offence actually being committed rather than something like driving without tax, but the senior gardai feel they currently have sufficient powers to deal with the problem."