Gangland Shootings part 4 - Read OP before posting - updated 30/12/23

Head in the sand stuff from the retired Garda on Katie Hannon there. Great result for the State...doesn't bother the Gardai...did their job etc 🤨

It was a hit and hope case from both Gardai and the DPP. They were desperate to stick the murder charge on him.

But, like any case, if prosecutors bring weak evidence before courts that's bound to fail, it undermines the justice system at large in the mind of the population. You had a contributor on Katie Hannon just now telling the nation that Gerry Hutch is a good guy. Now, interpersonally to some people, that may well be true. But he's also a known racketeer, tax evader and bank robber with a history of violence under his belt.

So, they've made a complete hash of it. They've created some sort of martyr in the minds of a lot of people. The lesson should be: put up a credible case in front of court or don't put one up at all.

Water cooler conversation in the DPP's office will be interesting tommorow.

Conversation on Katie Hannon re drug use:

I fear we're going to be left with drug gang formation and accompanying drug gang violence quite a while yet - because the noises from government and AGS is to stick with the status quo as much as possible, possibly just with a softer touch towards people caught in possession of smaller amounts of substances.

The reality is this: addiction and substance abuse is deeply embedded at all levels of society, it's not going away unless there is a major cultural shift and we all quit spending so much of our time getting leathered in pubs constantly and cocaine or pills acts as a bolt-on addiction to our primary one: alcohol.

We're a very attractive market for drug traffickers and people all across the supply chain worldwide. We're incentivising the creating of these cartels by being the market at the end of the supply chain with prohibitionist policies. And the supply chain doesn't start at Dublin Port or Rosslare, it starts in the mountains of Afghanistan, in the mountains of Bolivia, in the fields of Morrocco etc.

Legalize, create a network of governement controlled dispenseries, and with some European partners ensure that where the substances are sourced does not involve international criminal cartels. Then get to work ensuring we have a society with healthier options, like investments in sports, cultural outlets, alcohol and drug free nightime options, tackle poverty properly and judgement free treatment and counselling for addicts etc etc.

This is an international problem that only can have a full international solution, but as one of the lucrative target markets for drug cartels, we need to shape-up a bit ourselves.