Gardai 'aren't being allowed' to tackle city's street gangs

Councillor hits out over crimewave in capital

- MICHAEL O'TOOLE

JUSTICE Minister Helen McEntee must fix Dublin's street crime crisis or quit, a leading councillor has warned.

"The minister who is totally responsible for An Garda Siochana should either resign or come up with a robust plan," Mannix Flynn told the Irish Mirror last night.

And, in a hard-hitting interview, the veteran councillor also said he believes gardai on the ground are not being allowed to take on street gangs - because their bosses are more interested in statistics and the Garda computer system, PULSE.

"They're not being allowed to do their job - they're being managed to within an inch of their lives, he claimed about gardai.

"This is not about money. No guard has told me that he's actually not doing the job because there's no overtime. Most of the guards have told me they're not doing the job because they're not allowed to do the f**king job."