Sinn Féin spokesperson on Justice, Pa Daly TD, has expressed his concern after an alleged incident in which a woman was stabbed in Dublin City in an apparently random attack.

He said much more must be done to ensure communities can feel safe and protected in the capital city and across the state. 

Teachta Daly said: 

“The alleged incident on Chatham Street is of great concern. I want to express my solidarity with the victim and wish her a speedy recovery.

“Everyone should have the right to feel safe and protected in Dublin and beyond. But we know that the reality is that many communities feel badly let down.

“There have been a number of high profile incidents in urban areas and Gardaí are already extremely stretched when it comes to responding to incidents.

“Whilst welcome changes, which Sinn Féin advocated for, were made to ensure more high visibility patrols, the long term safety of our city centres must be assured. Instead we have an overburdened policing service, long delays in the courts and overcrowding in prisons. The Garda Reserve regulations, which could have helped with workforce issues, went unpublished for months.

“The Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence – or GREVIO – also recently published its evaluation of the state’s implementation of the Istanbul Convention. The Convention obliges signatories, of which Ireland is one, to have certain minimum standards to prevent and address gender based violence.

“Data gathering was found to be poor and inconsistent, and the long running scandal of much of the country lacking domestic violence provision was highlighted as well.

 “The difficulties some domestic violence victims have when interacting with family law processes were mentioned as a concern. More education and other legislative measures may be necessary to address situations where criminal convictions have been made and visitation rights or other family law proceedings continue. 

 “Indeed, the poor uptake of rehabilitation programmes by sex offenders is rightly to be reviewed by the Department. In our alternative budget, Sinn Féin made provision for increased resources for prison services, and the overall approach of the programme needs to change.

 “Fine Gael cannot deflect and they cannot hide forever when it comes to the mess they have made in the Justice Ministry. In any election, they will need to defend their record and as of right now, that record is one of neglect and failure.

“Sinn Féin will continue to speak to Gardaí, prison officers, lawyers, those who work in the wider criminal justice system and most importantly – people in the community who are affected by issues such as the lack of Garda presence on the streets.

“Fine Gael’s failures in policing are their legacy after over a decade in power. Sinn Féin in government will stand up for communities ensure Gardaí get the resources they need to protect people.”