It is time to take another look at the death penalty

The Bernie Comaskey column: There was an excellent editorial in this newspaper two weeks ago stating that it was time to take back the town from the thugs. Mullingar is getting bad press as a result of gang warfare - thankfully still fought without the guns; but unless the bully-boy threat to society is dealt with, as sure as God made little apples, we will have another Moyross on our doorstep.Whether or not some individuals believe that "we own Mullingar" to be true or not, there are pockets of places on this island which are literally owned by criminal gangs. The rule of the gangland gun has not arrived in Mullingar yet, no matter how bad recent adverse publicity looks for the town and county.But unless the problem is faced up to - and more importantly, faced down - it is only a matter of time until we have killing on the streets. Then we will have the do-gooders whining that the problem is not about law enforcement, but more to do with unemployment, disenfranchised, class structure and deprivation.Wrong, wrong, wrong; it is all to do with the difference between right and wrong and the punishment fitting the crime.Gangland murder is a regular occurrence on the streets of Ireland, while knife and so called domestic murder is increasing in proportion also.That the shootings on the street are, in the main, somewhere off the main thoroughfares of Dublin or Limerick and most often criminal versus criminal, means that its impact on the citizens is being reduced. Indeed, when one murdering thug is taken out by another, our natural reaction is "one less" and "good riddance": "The law couldn't get him and he had it coming" and so on. But it is dangerous territory when the rest of us react with satisfaction to an unlawful killing: This is the seeds of anarchy and shows that ordinary people have lost faith in the ability of the justice system to win out in the battle against vicious, psychopathic killer gangs, who put no value on human life. It is scary beyond belief that criminal gangs are now almost accepted as being the way things are in certain areas.Pause for a moment and reflect on the barbaric tragedy which was inflicted on a business family in Limerick: the Collins family stood up to intimidation and paid the price with the blood of a son and continuing death threats on theirs and relatives lives. Criminals are winning the war and unless this is addressed, gangland areas will expand as their leaders are looked up to by the next generation of gangsters, who will be even more ruthless and vicious. The rule of law is not being upheld across the board in Ireland.Pick up your Sunday newspaper any week and you will read of a hitman just released from prison after doing maybe six years for his crime.Extra gardai will have been drafted in to his area on account of "tensions." A fresh killing follows and Paul Williams or Paul Reynolds can now report that the victim was responsible for committing three … seven (take your pick) or ten previous murders. Most of our murders now are committed by people who have killed before and very often have been convicted of murder. Sometimes these criminals are even on bail when they kill.The increase in murder in Ireland is not only so called gang-related. We have more sex driven murders committed by repeat offenders and life has just become so cheap because the punishment, when caught, does not fit the crime. We have in recent years followed the most horrific cases of wife-killers where husbands bludgeoned their wives to a pulp and then calmly took the time to clean themselves up and attempt to do away with the evidence. These guys will be able to get on with their lives in a few short years and the question has to be asked: would they have thought twice before they killed if the punishment in this country fitted the crime? I remember hearing the governor of Texas a few years back defending the death penalty and his most compelling argument in favour was; "we don't have any repeat offenders".Very reluctantly I have come around to the view that we need to take another look at re-introducing the death penalty for first degree murder. Those against will quite correctly point out cases where an innocent man was convicted and this is fair argument. But for every such case there would be a dozen innocent people staying alive after being spared from the repeat offender. Besides, there is no doubt but that with modern DNA testing techniques, the risk of an innocent person being convicted has very much diminished. And the death penalty is a deterrent - despite what opponents will tell you. A survey shows that murder was reduced in the states in America which brought back capital punishment. Detailed research in America showed that for every execution; seven lives were saved as others were deterred from killing.Irish gang leaders - and there are many, are now feared more than the Mafia in places abroad. These "leaders" did not get to the top without a lot of blood on their hands and a bullet is never far away for those who cross their path. Every drug lord has his hitman to pull the trigger for him.The gun and knife culture in Irish ghettos is all too common now among young men. Feral teenagers roam in every city and town in Ireland. Often they don't even get reported when they rob and they don't have to kill to rob; but some day or night when they have to kill, they will.No more room in the prisons - in one door out the other; no fear of getting caught and no stigma or regret no matter how bad the crime. Murder now only gets the same headline that an assault would have done a few years back. If drastic steps are not taken civilisation is under threat. I do not believe that it is uncivilised in these circumstances to take one life for another and thereby save the lives of others.As you read this there are vicious killers ensconced in the comforts of jail, 2010 style; they are enjoying the comforts in prison that many hard-working, law-abiding citizens will never be able to afford. There is remission for "good behaviour" - of all things, while there is no remission for the suffering of the families of victims.The death penalty for murder is not about revenge: it is about protecting and safe-guarding society: It is about the punishment fitting the crime: It is about fairness and justice on earth. It is about murder being murder. It is about taking another look at capital punishment.Don't ForgetCriminals seem to know their rights better than their wrongs.