Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Everyone has the right to feel safe in their home, on their streets and in their neighbourhood. This right has been taken from so many communities by organised criminals and drug gangs, gangs of thugs using violence, menace and intimidation to exploit working-class communities, targeting our young people to groom them into a dead-end life of crime. They prey on vulnerability and poverty and thrive in the deep pool of disadvantage that too often encircles good, decent people. Poverty is not an accident. The State and successive Governments are responsible for the neglect, degradation and disrespect that leave people vulnerable to these groups, vulnerable to the violence and chaos that follow them, vulnerable to addiction, drug debt, premature death and bereavement, and vulnerable to losing a loved one or themselves to a lifelong cycle of crime and imprisonment, robbing generations of families of a fair chance to thrive, achieve and reach their potential.

I offer these observations not as excuses but as the real-life context in which organised crime and drug crime have taken hold. No quarter can be given to those who have built vast empires and huge wealth by preying on working-class communities. These gangs must be smashed, these thugs put behind bars, where they belong. That means targeting and confiscating criminal assets and building the resources and morale of An Garda Síochána at every level, but with an emphasis on community policing. Government policies have seen Garda stations close, members of An Garda Síochána walk away in record numbers and communities left vulnerable. Front-line gardaí do incredible work - crucial, brave work - and their efforts must now be matched by the Government.

If we are serious about ensuring that another generation of young people is not put at risk of the drug gangs, politics and the Government must now match the ambition and determination of communities throughout the country. Communities must be supported and resourced. In the past decade, community development, youth work and vital community infrastructure in so many vulnerable neighbourhoods have been eroded and stripped away deliberately by Governments. If we want to ensure our brilliant, talented, energetic young people in working-class areas, in particular, have a life defined by choice and opportunity, not by marginalisation and vulnerability, we have to invest in them. We have to plan and strategically develop our communities because there is little point in political posturing, rhetoric and faux-outrage. The Government must now shoulder its responsibility and enable An Garda Síochána, the criminal justice system and, crucially, communities to be resourced, strong and resilient.

Sinn Féin stands 100% with law-abiding citizens, with the members of An Garda Síochána and with the courts system - all of it, including the Special Criminal Court - against the threat of organised crime.

Much has been said in the aftermath of the case in the Special Criminal Court that concluded earlier this week. For the avoidance of doubt, let me say again that Jonathan Dowdall had no business in Sinn Féin. He should not have been in our party. He joined in June 2013, he left in February 2015 but it was in March 2016 that his criminal activity was discovered.

I first met Jonathan Dowdall and his wife, a civil servant in the Department of Social Protection, at an event in advance of the 2011 general election. He was a family man. He was running a successful electrical business working with some of the largest companies in the land. Indeed, he featured in the media about the success of his business. He was a north inner-city kid who had worked really hard and who had done really well. We now know that this was not the real Jonathan Dowdall, a man would go on to commit heinous crime. He, and he alone, is responsible for his actions. He has been tried. He has been convicted before the courts. If I had known for a second what he would be capable of, what he would go on to do, he would not have been near me, he would not have been near Sinn Féin and he certainly would not have been running for public office. I would not tolerate that.

As a public representative, I have stood resolutely on the side of the community in the fight against criminal gangs, drug dealers and antisocial elements. I will continue to do that. I have always stood with the community in the fight for services, supports, housing and opportunity for the people; I will continue to do that. I can only hope that Government now or some other Government in the future-----

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