Efforts to tackle the feud between gangs in Dublin will be hampered by cuts to garda resources, the government has been warned.
Jim O’Callaghan, the Fianna Fáil justice spokesman, said that any reduction in resources would benefit the activity of feuding crime gangs.
His comments came after Derek Coakley Hutch was shot dead in Dublin on Saturday. He is believed to be the 14th victim of the Hutch-Kinahan feud.
“Garda resources and overtime must be maintained in order to keep tackling this feud,” Mr O’Callaghan said. “The gardaí have done an excellent job to date in curtailing the vicious violence of the Kinahan-Hutch feud. The main reason for this has been the increased garda presence on the ground over recent months.”
Mr O’Callaghan warned that cuts to overtime and a 30 per cent reduction in high-visibility armed patrols would significantly reduce the ability of gardaí to fight organised crime.
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“ It is clear that any reduction in these resources will solely benefit, and possibly even aid the activity of the organised criminals who continue to inflict such terror in communities across our capital,” he said.
Gardaí are continuing their hunt for the gunman behind the attack on Saturday. Mr Hutch, 27, a nephew of Gerry “The Monk” Hutch, a prominent criminal gang leader, was shot several times as he sat in a car at Bridgeview halting site in Ronanstown, west Dublin.