Report on Mandatory Sentences - Law Reform Commission

filtered into the public domain. Their revenue was derived primarily from drug trafficking - a territorial
business which was guarded both jealously and ruthlessly. The link between the drugs trade and
firearms had become evident as a proliferation of illegal firearms meant that tales of a lethal turf-war were
never far from the headlines. Competitors, traitors, potential threats and people in the wrong place at the
wrong time were casually and frequently eliminated. 372 While the identities of the criminal bosses were
known or, at very least, suspected, the sophisticated level at which they operated made detection and
prosecution almost impossible. The fact that representatives of two democratic institutions (An Garda
Síochána and the Press) should be targeted within such a short space of time was considered by some to
be an “attack on democracy” and proof that the crime situation now required a declaration of a “state of
emergency”. 373 The climate seemed right to come down heavily on the activities of these organisations.
The Government declined, however, to introduce mandatory sentencing in respect of either drug
trafficking or firearms offences, preferring instead to focus on the causes of crime, Garda powers and the
proceeds of crime. 374
2.161 In October 2003, a newly appointed Garda Commissioner, Noel Conroy, addressed the Joint
Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women’s Rights and explained the extent of the perceived
problem of offences involving firearms:
“I am concerned at the number of homicides and other instances involving the use of firearms.
Of the 42 deaths this year, 19 involved the use of firearms. This compares to ten in the year
2002 and nine in the year 2001. There are a number of factors which explain this increase.
Some former paramilitary weapons have found their way into the hands of criminal organisations
and this has contributed to the general increase in the use of firearms in recent times, in
particular in so-called gangland style murders and shootings. There have also been cases where
former paramilitaries have turned to crime. Criminal gangs are also known to import firearms with
their consignments of drugs and cigarettes and so on.” 375
Shortly afterwards, the Department of Justice released figures to the Labour Party Spokesperson on
Justice which indicated that there had been a 500 percent increase in murders involving firearms since
1998. 376
2.162 In April 2004, the then Minister for Justice announced to the Association of Garda Sergeants and
Inspectors that the laws relating to drugs and firearms offences would be strengthened. 377 Shortly after
the Minister’s announcement, two reports were published which lent credence to popular fears. On 16 th
April 2004, the Department of Justice released Garda figures which indicated that there had been a
substantial increase in firearms offences for the first three months of 2004. 378 This was followed by the
publication, on 19 th April 2004, of an all-Ireland survey commissioned by the National Advisory Committee
on Drugs (NACD) in Ireland and the Drug and Alcohol Information and Research Unit (DAIRU) in
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376
377
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“Contract Killing costs about Pounds 2000” Irish Times 1 May 1996; O’Connor “Death Toll from Contract Style
Killings rises to 12 in Dublin” Irish Times 27 June 1996; and Cusack “Dublin’s Gangsters have got the Killing
Habit” Irish Times 7 September 1996.
Dáil Debates, Killing of Dublin Journalist: Statements, 26 June 1996, Vol 467, No 5; and Kennedy “Stunned
Political Leaders see Killing as Attack on Democracy” Irish Times 27 June 1996.
See, for example: the Criminal Assets Bureau Act 1996 and the Proceeds of Crime Act 1996.
Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women’s Rights Debate, Garda Commissioner Presentation, 14
October 2003, Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy; Lally “Conroy says Rise in Use of Guns in Homicides” Irish
Times 15 October 2003; and Lally “Gardaí call for Overhaul of Justice System” Irish Times 6 November 2003.
Lally “500% Rise in Murders using Guns” Irish Times 19 November 2003.
Lally “Gun and Drug Laws to be Toughened Up” Irish Times 6 April 2004; “Mandatory Sentences” Irish Times
7 April 2004; and Coulter “Sentence must be Proportionate to the Crime, say Observers” Irish Times 7 April
2004.
Lally “Crime Figures show 6% Drop” Irish Times 17 April 2004; and Brady “Crackdown on Way as Gun Crime
Rockets” Belfast Telegraph 17 April 2004.
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