O'Brien calls for action after Cork stabbings | Sinn Féin
“I would propose a knife crime awareness and education campaign which would include a type of knife amnesty for the Cork area that has been successful in other areas before, where young people are encouraged to give up their weapons to Gardaí... Speaking in the aftermath of two deaths from knife wounds in Cork over the weekend, Sinn Féin Justice Spokesperson and TD for Cork North Central, Deputy Jonathan O’Brien called on the Minister for Justice to rethink his strategy of cutting Garda... “Extra Garda resources need to be deployed to Cork with a proactive approach to tackling knife crime. The PSNI did this in the north in 2006 and 900 knives were handed in, resulting in a 30% drop in knife crime. “The fact that two people have died over the weekend in separate knife incidents is extremely worrying. “Clearly the current approach to crime fighting and prevention needs to be debated, reviewed and revised in light of escalating violence and drug crime. Meanwhile, the Minister for Justice and the Garda Commissioner are quite happy to reduce the opening hours of Garda stations and close others. Such violent crime is a symptom of a violent society we now find ourselves living in. The Minister for Justice must be cognisant of the risk to the community when approaching issues of policing.