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Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland.
The window of the post office in Walkinstown that was subjected to an armed raid yesterday.
Dublin
Call for Dublin 'task force' after armed raids and Phoenix Park violence
Fianna Fáil’s Niall Collins has said that a Dublin Task Force needs to be established in order to make the streets of the capital safer following a number of recent incidents.
FIANNA FÁIL’S JUSTICE spokesperson Niall Collins has called for the establishment of a Dublin Task Force which would be dedicated to addressing violent crime in the capital in response to a number of recent incidents.
Collins, who became the party spokesperson on justice this week, was responding to the two armed raids in Dublin yesterday as well as a violent robbery and assault on a couple in Bray, Co Wicklow.
He said that the gardaí, the HSE and officials from Dublin’s four local authorities needed to co-ordinate on a policy to make Dublin safer.
In three incidents reported yesterday, three men in balaclavas tied-up and robbed a couple in Bray, while in Dublin city centre two armed men robbed a Lidl supermarket.
In Walkinstown in Dublin a female post office worker was injured in a shooting as two men unsuccessfully attempted to rob the post office.
The Limerick TD was also responding to the scenes of violence which marred last weekend’s Swedish House Mafia concert in the Phoenix Park where 11 people were stabbed and there were over 30 arrests.
Two people also died from suspected drug overdoses.
“The raids yesterday are just the latest in a series of recent violent incidents in the capital, and will be particularly worrying for Dubliners following the disturbing events at the Phoenix Park last weekend.
“The Minister for Justice Alan Shatter needs to address this immediately,” Collins said in a statement.
Collins said that he was “horrified” by the attack on a couple at their home near Bray, saying: “To be targeted by violent criminals and assaulted in the safety of your own home is any homeowner’s worst nightmare.”
He added that the incidents were “disturbing evidence of an emerging spike in violent crime in the capital”.
The Justice Minister has already said that the Garda Commissioner will carry out a full review of all aspects of the violence in the Phoenix Park a week ago. The review is expected to be completed by the end of the month.
Read: Masked men with hatchet, crowbars escape after Wicklow burglary
Read: Substantial sum stolen in armed raid at Dublin Lidl store
Read: Post office worker injured in Walkinstown shooting
Phoenix Park: Call for ‘airport-style’ security checks at some concerts
