MANDATORY SENTENCES of four years' imprisonment for attacks on the emergency services must be enforced, Lord Mayor of Dublin Eibhlin Byrne has said.
Ms Byrne was speaking following a number of violent incidents over the Halloween weekend in which gardaí and firefighters were injured and a 24-year-old-man was left fighting for his life.
"There is a mandatory sentence of four years for attacks on the fire service or members of the gardaí, but it is my understanding that very often these sentences are commuted to community service or much shorter sentences," Ms Byrne said.
There was a danger that the numbers joining the Garda Síochána or fire brigade would drop dramatically if they felt they were not being protected by the law, she said.
"We need to send a strong message to people involved in these attacks to show solidarity with our emergency services by enforcing mandatory sentences, because at some point somebody is going to get killed."
The 24-year-old man remains in a critical condition in Connolly Memorial Hospital, Dublin, after he was assaulted near a bonfire in Blanchardstown in the early hours of Saturday morning. A 19-year-old man is due in court this morning in relation to the attack.
In a separate incident, two gardaí were hospitalised shortly after midnight on Friday after they were attacked by a crowd on Dorset Street in the north inner city.
Ten people were arrested but later released without charge. Fire officers attending a blaze at a factory near the Point were attacked in Sheriff Street on Friday and one fireman was injured.
In Clonmel, Co Tipperary, four gardaí were assaulted during an incident at a bonfire involving some 30 youths. A female garda suffered a fractured eye socket while three others suffered lacerations and were treated in Waterford Regional Hospital.
Dublin Fire Service was called out to 800 incidents and the ambulance service received 500 calls.
The fire brigade attended a serious fire in O'Devaney Gardens near the Phoenix Park where unoccupied apartments were set ablaze.
The clean-up bill for illegal bonfires in Dublin is expected to be more than €1 million according to Dublin City Council.
Labour TD Joe Costello yesterday said Halloween had become an "excuse for violence" and the illegal use of fireworks bought in the North contributed to attacks and injuries.
"Fireworks are legal in Northern Ireland and illegal in the Republic. It's my preferred position that they should be illegal throughout the entire island and it is the very strong view of the DUP and other parties that they be made illegal," he said.