The number of gangland killings has doubled in the past year, but none of the perpetrators have been brought to justice, writes Conor Lally
Within hours of almost every gangland killing this year, detectives knew why the victim was killed and who had pulled the trigger. Yet charges have been brought in respect of only three of those 17 gangland murders.
Meanwhile, the figure for all gun homicides in 2003 has reached 20, exactly double that of last year. And when the figures for the year's drug seizures are published, they will most likely show a quadrupling in their estimated street value. 2003 may well be seen as the year in which Irish gangland crime moved up a gear.
It has been a bad year for the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell. Serious crime has thrived at a time when a law has been introduced to criminalise people who are drunk in pubs. Gardaí who speak to journalists have also become targets of new legislation.
Detectives say the escalating rate of gun murders reflects how an entire generation of young criminals are flexing their muscles for the first time. With the drug-user market expanding massively in the last decade, the young pretenders are anxious to mark out their territory. A significant number are cocaine users or fitness fanatics who dabble in steroids - a major contributory factor to the paranoia levels which currently prevail in criminal circles.
Gardaí on the front line say their efforts to target suspects are being undermined by budgetary constraints. The Minister says the force has never had it so good. All the while the blood-letting continues, with those responsible doing everything they can to avoid detection.
One Garda source said criminals often wear rain gear during attacks to ensure no DNA or clothing fibres are left at a scene. Murder weapons are usually disposed of. Getaway cars are stolen and burned out after an attack to be sure any forensic evidence is destroyed. Some criminals have even covered their hands with sellotape to make sure no fingerprints or palm prints are left at the scene of a crime. In some cases where DNA evidence has been gathered from a crime scene, convictions have not been secured because of a lack of corroborating evidence. The public is terrified to make statements against those involved.
So what can be done? Many gardaí believe allowing them to tap phones would be a huge advantage in smashing the gangs. They say the tactic worked well in targeting the IRA during the Troubles. And tapping has been used with considerable success in the Netherlands where the police have secured conspiracy convictions against many criminals based on telephone evidence.
Telephone taps are only approved in Ireland by special Ministerial order, and few are sanctioned. When Tony Gregory TD spoke to Dutch police some years ago in the course of his work with the Dáil Committee on European affairs, the officers identified phone-tapping as a vital tool in the fight against organised criminals, particularly drug dealers.
In the wake of the collapse of the Liam Keane trial, the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors urged the Minister to introduce legislation to make gang membership a criminal offence. The Minister dismissed the suggestion. But some senior officers believe he should reconsider. They point to the success of similar legislation in Austria and Canada, where anti-gang laws have smashed serious crime gangs that have eluded the police for decades. In Quebec, where gang membership has been a federal offence for three years, dozens of members of the notorious Hell's Angels and Rock Machine have been imprisoned since the beginning of 2001. Gang membership carries a sentence of up to 14 years.In Austria the police are using similar legislation against those involved in organised gang crime and are enjoying comparable success.
"The Minister went on TV and said the gangs are not like terrorists who swear an oath of allegiance, so how do you define gang membership," said one senior Garda source. "But the gangs in Austria and in Canada don't swear an allegiance either, but it hasn't stopped the police in catching them under these new laws. They couldn't catch the guys for murders and massive drug dealing but they got them on the gang membership.
"A lot of them have got lengthy prison sentences and assets have been seized. Once you can prove these guys are involved in crime and that they are working with a common purpose, then you can prove they are in a gang.
"I don't now why the Oireachtas has shied away from introducing it here. It's a mystery to me."
Seventeen killings: a year of deadly feuding
January 23rd Niall Mulvihill (57) The father of two was shot as he sat in his taxi at Spencer Dock Bridge, Dublin. A passenger on a motorcycle fired shots into the car and fled. Mulvihill drove towards the Mater Hospital but passed out on the North Circular Road and died a short time later. He was a well-known gangland figure and a former associate of Martin "The General" Cahill. No charges.
January 28th Ray Salinger (40) He was shot as he drank with friends in Farrell's pub on New Street, in Dublin's south inner city. Two masked men, one carrying a handgun, shot him a number of times in the chest. Salinger was involved in the drugs trade. No charges.
January 29th Kieran Keane (36) The father of two was shot dead at around 9.30 p.m. in the gateway of a house in the townland of Drombanna, about three miles east of Limerick. Keane was a drug-dealer and was involved in the feud in the city. Five men are currently on trial for his murder.
March 23rd Charles Merriman (27) A band manager, he was found dead at St Margaret's Road, Ballymun. He had been shot in the head with a shotgun. Merriman, from Dublin's inner city, had worked as a bouncer. He was not a known drug-dealer but detectives suspect he may have been the victim of a turf war. No charges.
April 5th Declan Griffin (34) He was shot at the Horse and Jockey pub in Inchicore, Dublin. He died later in St James's Hospital. He was carrying a gun and wearing a bulletproof vest at the time of his death. He was involved in the drugs trade and was a Garda informant. A man has been charged with his murder.
April 12th Paul Ryan (27) The remains of the Raheny man were found at the side of a road at Coolderry village close to Birr, Co Offaly. His hands were tied behind his back and he had been shot in the head.
Detectives believe he may have been killed over a drugs seizure last year connected to Dublin's Westies gang. No charges.
April 19th Michael Scott (25) Two men armed with a sword and a gun burst into his Sillogue Road flat in Ballymun, Dublin at around 3 a.m. The victim, whose partner was in the flat at the time, was shot in the upper body. Gardaí believe his death may have been linked to a row at a cider party in nearby Finglas in the hours before the fatal attack. No charges.
May 6th Robert Fitzgerald (23) The Limerick man was shot in the head and chest after leaving a party in the Moyross area. His murder has not been linked to the Limerick feud. He was a second cousin of Brian Fitzgerald, the Limerick bouncer who was shot dead near his home in Corbally in November 2002. No charges.
June 14th Ronald Draper (25) He was shot dead at 10 p.m. while working as a doorman at Charlie P's pub in Eden Quay, Dublin. He was a member of a Dublin criminal gang that was involved in a high-profile gang fight with the INLA at the Ballymount Industrial Estate in west Dublin in 1999, during which a man with links to the INLA was killed. No charges.
June 19th Willie O'Regan (34) He was shot dead at his home on Old Cabra Road, Finglas. This week Declan Curran (23), of Cardiffsbridge Ave, Finglas, was charged at Dublin District Court with O'Regan's murder. Curran appears before Cloverhill District Court next Wednesday.
July 7th John Ryan (47) The father of six was gunned down as he worked on a patio at a house in Thomondgate, Limerick. He was the uncle of Eddie Ryan Jnr and Kieran Ryan, the two men who were allegedly kidnapped in Limerick in January as part of the feud in the city. John Ryan's murder was also linked to the feud. No charges.
July 8th David McGuinness (35) McGuinness was at home on the Balrothery Estate in Tallaght in the early hours when a caller came to his door. McGuinness was shot three times in the head and upper body. The victim was not a major criminal figure and gardaí believe his murder may be linked to his work as a nightclub bouncer. No charges.
August 4th Thomas Canavan (36) A resident of Inchicore, Dublin, he was gunned down at 9.15 p.m. as he sat in Cleary's pub on Sarsfield Road. The father of nine had been involved in a number of minor disputes in recent times, which gardaí believe could be linked to his murder. No charges
August 17th Bernard Sugg (23) A leading member of Dublin's notorious Westies drugs gang, Sugg died after being shot in the chest as he sat in the Brookwood Inn in Corduff, Blanchardstown. He had no convictions but was a major player in Dublin's heroin scene. Gardaí believe he was killed by a rival gang. No charges.
October 9th Peter Sheridan (27) The father of three's remains were found dumped at Scribblestown Lane in Finglas, Dublin. He had been shot in the head and was hooded. He is believed to have been murdered by a known drug dealer who feared Sheridan might have information to pass on to gardaí. His suspected killer has been linked to other violent gun crime. No charges.
October 20th Michael Campbell- McNamara (23) His remains were found dumped near Limerick's Southill Estate. He had been stabbed and shot in the head, his hands and legs tied. Gardaí believe his death may be linked to the city feud. He was a hardened criminal recently released from prison. No charges.
November 11th Jason Tolan (24) A so-called joyrider, he died after he was shot in the leg on waste ground near his home in Mulhuddart, Co Dublin. He was associated with the notorious Westies gang. Gardaí do not believe he was a drug dealer. Thomas Murphy (24), of Wellview Avenue, Mulhuddart, has been charged with the murder.