THE promise of tougher laws against violent crime, reiterated yesterday by Justice Minister Michael McDowell, is to be welcomed in following the weekend killing of an innocent young mother by gunmen who fired at random into a house as people celebrated a birthday.There could not be a more graphic illustration of the mindless violence now commonplace in urban society than this appalling crime.

Aptly described by Mr McDowell as a “watershed” occurrence in the growing incidence of violent crime, the horrific killing underlines just how cheap life has become on the streets of our cities and towns.

The minister can be assured of strong public support for any initiative likely to give citizens a greater measure of protection against crime.

Nevertheless, it is somewhat ironic that this renewed promise of tougher anti-gun laws comes six months after his mind-boggling claim, based on garda crime figures, that Ireland was among the safest of countries.

Public safety is clearly under threat in any society where thugs, refused entry to a birthday party, were to return with murderous intent. Apparently, the shooting was neither drug-related nor linked to any feud.

In scenes reminiscent of a Mafia film, a car with three men inside pulled up outside the house. The gunman got out, leaned on the bonnet and fired five shots from an automatic pistol into the house, hitting the mother of a two-year-old boy in the chest as she stood inside the front door.

Mr McDowell is correct when he says society should ponder the implications of the senseless shooting of 22-year-old Donna Cleary. Three children were among those who narrowly escaped injury.

As he rightly claims, such wanton disregard for life should prompt politicians, law enforcement agencies, citizens, the community and the judiciary to reflect on the society we are living in.

In a bid to clamp down on the proliferation of firearms, Mr McDowell proposes to introduce mandatory sentences of between five and 10 years for firearms offences.

But even as he renewed this promise in the wake of the fatal shooting of Donna Cleary, the minister warned that the concept of mandatory minimum sentences for criminals caught with large quantities of drugs was seen as the upper limit by some members of the judiciary. In his view, mandatory sentences should be the norm rather than the exception.

There is now a pressing need for the forces of law and order to crack down relentlessly on criminal elements who use guns in the pursuit of crime.

It would be hard to exaggerate the sense of public outrage at the appalling events witnessed in Dublin on Saturday night. In certain areas of the capital and our other cities, decent people are living in constant fear of intimidation by ruthless criminals. In such communities, the activities of criminal gangs and drug addicts have a paralysing effect on the lives of law-abiding citizens.

The weekend killing is another tragic instance of the random violence simmering just below the surface of Irish society.

With good reason, the public will welcome the renewed promise to introduce tough anti-crime measures. But what the fearful residents of local communities are crying out for is the visible presence of more gardaí on the streets.

They are looking to Mr McDowell to deliver fully on his promise to bring the strength of the force up to 14,000 members by next year so more gardaí can be dedicated to front-line duty.