Schrijf is wat positiefs over Ierland vroegen een aantal mensen. Okay dacht ik waarom niet. het was een mooie zomer zondag in January en ik maakte een wandeling met de honden. Dus op maandagmorgen ging ik achter mijn computer zitten en dacht daar gaat ie dan....had ik maar nooit naar die verdomde kranten gekeken...

Independent.ie
'Bloodiest year on record' as killing rate soars by 25pc By Tom Brady Security Editor

Tuesday January 29 2008 The homicide toll soared by 25pc in the State last year -- despite a drop in gun and gangland murders. After a major focus on serious gun crime in the past few years, the Garda Siochana is now examining fresh challenges posed by the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office. Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy admitted yesterday: "There is some cause for concern here and we have already started to analyse these figures to enable us to identify and address emerging challenges in the murder rate. "We are experiencing an increase in the use of sharp objects, including knives -- accounting for nearly half of all murders. "A high percentage of murders are taking place in private locations and this poses a particular challenge for gardai and, indeed, the community as a whole. "We will be working with other agencies to assess whether there are wider, underlying issues which require something other than a policing response," Mr Murphy added.

The figures show that the number of murder/manslaughter incidents last year jumped by 17 to 84, compared to the previous year, a rise of 25.4pc. The number of recorded murder attempts and threats rose by 61pc from 103 to 166. Justice Minister Brian Lenihan also voiced concern at the homicide figures but welcomed a detection rate of 68pc for murders and 100pc for manslaughter. While homicides involving stabbings doubled from 18 to 36, gun murders dropped from 26 in 2006 to 18 last year. The minister said the new policing plan reflected the intensified efforts by gardai to tackle knife crime. He also pledged that the problems of domestic violence, which could ultimately lead to death, would continue to be highlighted. The overall crime rate for last year was up by 1.7pc to a total of 104,946 headline offences. But there were significant reductions in several categories, including robberies, down 12.4pc, sexual offences (10pc), burglaries (5.1pc), and assaults (0.4pc). The garda commissioner said there were decreases in crimes which affected the community in a real and tangible way, with theft from the person down by 18pc. He said a rise in thefts from vehicles highlighted a need for an increased focus on crime prevention messages and targeted patrols.

Offences
There were increases in fraud, forgery, arson and general theft, but rises in the detection rate across the range of drug offences were interpreted as an illustration of the high levels of garda activity in this area. Separate statistics for the final quarter of last year showed an overall rise in crime of 6.1pc, up to 27,017 headline offences. Fine Gael's justice spokesman, Charlie Flanagan, described 2007 as the "bloodiest year on record for murders and manslaughters" and called for longer minimum sentences for murderers. He said the cheapening of human life, evident in the crime figures, demanded an urgent response from the justice minister. Mr Flanagan claimed that many criminals did not take life sentences seriously and the courts should have a greater deterrent, including longer minimum sentences of up to 25 years for murder cases. He also called for an end to automatic remission for prisoners. Labour's justice spokesman, Pat Rabbitte, said the figures painted a grim picture of the extent of the crime problem after 10 years of Fianna Fail government. He said the 6.1pc increase in headline crime for the fourth quarter of 2007, when compared to 2006, was particularly dramatic, adding that the Government needed to accept the current approach was not working and a change of direction was needed. - Tom Brady Security Editor


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