STREETS OF FEAR

LAST week's spate of brutal gangland killings have sparked calls for
radical new measures to combat the Northside's gun culture.

The cold-blooded shootings in Finglas and at the IFSC which claimed
three lives - including that of an innocent apprentice plumber - have
created an unprecedented atmosphere of terror on Northside streets.

Armed gardai are now patrolling parts of Finglas and Cabra but
politicians are demanding an emergency response to the latest outrages.

The latest killings began last Tuesday when a loan gunman calmly
walked up to a house at Scribblestown Park.

It's believed apprentice plumber Anthony Campbell opened the door. He
was waiting for his boss who had gone off for supplies.

The 20-year-old innocent worker was gunned down and his killer then
made his way to a bedroom in the home and shot dead Martin 'Marlo'
Hyland, (39).

The gardai described him as an "innocent bystander who was in the
wrong place at the wrong time."

In contrast, Hyland was known to gardai as a major gangland figure and
was warned by gardai just days before he was killed that his life was
in danger.

Just two days after the Finglas murders a man who gardai say had
criminal connections was shot and killed outside the Mace store at the
IFSC in the north inner city.

And the weekend before last week's killing spree, another man was
gunned down at Coberg Place on Seville Street. He was hit in the chest
and taken to hospital where he was treated for his injuries.

A few miles away on New Cabra Road, gardai found the remnants of
another shooting.

Bloodstains and bullet casings were discovered and a man was later
found in Finglas with gunshot wounds and taken to hospital for treatment.

With gangland killers now seemingly murdering at will, local public
representatives are calling for a tough new crackdown to combat the
drug dealers and their hired hitmen.

Speaking after meeting Anthony Campbell's family in their Greek Street
home, Senator Cyprian Brady (FF) said Dublin was being reduced to a
bloodbath and called for the army to provide gardai with back up to
round up the killers.

"This family is distraught and the people of my constituency are
numbed by the uncontrolled, vicious violence in the area," he said.

"We need action now and I am pleading with the gardai and, if
necessary, the army, to come in and round up these thugs and killers
and get them off our streets now."

Finglas councillor Dessie Ellis (SF) said local people were devastated
by the double murder in his area.

"It is a tragedy that a completely innocent young man got caught up in
this and lost his life," he told Northside People.

"I knew of Martin Hyland; he has been in the area for years but never
had a physical presence like some of the other big names."

Cllr Ellis was critical of Operation Anvil, which was aimed at
tackling the recent spate of gangland murders, armed robberies and gun
crime. "The operation was homed in on Blanchardstown and Finglas," he
said.

"Whatever feuding is going on in the area, the gardai don't seem to be
catching these guys.

"Also, these recent crimes show how many weapons there are around.
Guns seem to be coming in with every shipment of drugs."

Local TD Pat Carey (FF) also condemned the killings which he described
as "spine chilling" and beyond the "depths of depravity".

"It is beyond belief that a young man doing an honest day's work could
be caught up in what has obviously been a serious gang feud," he said.

"The gardai have put unprecedented resources into tackling crime of
this nature and I am urging the Minister for Justice and the
Government to be unstinting in their pursuit of those who feel that
they are outside the law."

Cllr Bill Tormey (FG) blamed the growing scourge of cocaine abuse for
the killing spree.

"The cocaine scourge is pervasive throughout Finglas," he told
Northside People.

"Thirteen-year-old kids on pushbikes are selling cocaine and acting as
couriers for dealers. They are paid off with e20 notes or given drugs
themselves.

"In the earlier heroin epidemic, parents and concerned community
leaders held public meetings, attended by gardai and public
representatives, to tackle the problem. Now the cocaine menace is so
scary that people are afraid to organise to combat this evil in our
midst.

"We need an emergency response to this tit for tat murder campaign.
The carnage is having a disastrous effect on the local community in
Finglas.

"The Special Criminal Court should be directed towards drug criminals.
The Criminal Assets Bureau must be directed to ensure that people who
are awarded social houses by Dublin City Council are not those driving
around in '06 BMWs."

Dublin Central TD Joe Costello (Lab) said with innocent people now
becoming victims of the killers, the public was losing faith in the
ability of the justice system to end the violence.

"The Donna Cleary killing, the Baiba Saulite killing and most recently
the killing of Anthony Campbell demonstrate very clearly and
worryingly how gangland killings can spread," he said.

"Innocent family members and innocent bystanders can get caught in the
crossfire."

Dublin MEPs Gay Mitchell (FG) and Mary Lou McDonald (SF) also called
for urgent action to stop further bloodshed.

"The murder in the middle of the International Financial Services
Centre shows that the hitmen sent out by the drug barons in Dublin
feel they can act with absolute impunity," said Ms McDonald.

Mr Mitchell claimed that if the killings had happened in Donnybrook or
Ballsbridge they would be met with the full might of the State.

"I am asking the Minister for Justice to tell the public why there is
one rule for some communities and a different rule for others," he
said.

Gardai admitted that the activities of those involved in organised
crime was causing "considerable concern" and new initiatives were put
in place following last week's killings.

An additional 20 gardai have been allocated to the Organised Crime
Unit (OCU) which will work closely with other units in focussing on
well known crime figures.

Extra resources have been deployed to Northside areas with a
significant increase in armed Garda patrols and checkpoints in key
targeted areas.

Gardai also called for a community response to the upsurge in gangland
activity.

"We are confident that there are a large number of people on the
periphery of organised crime who are aware of facts and details which
could and should be passed to the gardai," a spokesman said. "This can
be done anonymously and confidentially to the Garda Confidential
Phoneline."