Feargal Quinn (Independent)

When we read in the newspaper or hear on the radio of raids such as that which happened in Lusk, we are frightened and motivated to do something about them. Last Thursday night, two armed gangsters raided one of my supermarkets with balaclavas and sawn-off shotguns. One meets the people who had to go through that, talks to them because one knows them and hears of their experiences, and then realises that this was the 30th raid in the area in the past month — I am not sure that the figure is exact, but I am told it is approximately that. On the same night, another gang, without revolvers but with syringes, raided another supermarket. I mention this because it reminds us of the horror and frequency of what is happening, of which I was unaware.

Last year a proposal was made that a Taser — a gun that sends electric shocks but does not kill — should be introduced. There was an outcry because it was considered completely unsuitable. When one compares using real guns and Tasers, one sees that we must change our attitudes in the way we did following the death of Veronica Guerin. We passed laws and did things that we had not done before to stop the drug barons. We must now give serious consideration to the issue. The fault is our own, as a nation and as legislators, and we must do something about it.