Dear Editor,
Last Wednesday, law enforcers in Merseyside, a region in England, apprehended three violent protesters. They were handed prison sentences of three years, two and a half years, and a year and eight months respectively. Such expeditious legal action ardently follows UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s vow of promptly dealing with the unchecked delinquency rampant in England over the last few days.
Contrarily, the aftermath of Dublin’s deplorable riots last November, accompanied by the more recent Coolock upheavals have only been met with Ireland’s predictable law enforcement theatrics. Instances of perpetrators taken to court by our dutiful Irish police force, insignificant bail charges levied by the judiciary, and the accused set free within hours of confinement, is all too common. We will have to wait for an indefinite period before a comprehensive hearing transpires, with insignificant or no imprisonment being the probable outcome.
Numerous pronouncements have been made by our Justice Minister and other Irish government personnel, pledging to crack down on the rising tide of anti-immigrant offenses that have engulfed our country for the past year.
With the UK’s Labour government now demonstrating the way forward, our own government and political factions have a model to follow. It echoes what law-abiding inhabitants of our nation have desired for years and currently insist upon.
Sincerely,
Stephen O’Byrnes,
Dublin 4.