Members of Dublin’s drug cartels should be prevented from using religious services to promote their “evil” and “revolting business of death”, the Archbishop of Dublin has said.
Diarmuid Martin’s comments come after a number of gangland related shootings in recent weeks in Dublin, which have all been condemned in the Dáil and by local communities.
At a morning Mass in Dublin held for the Feast of St Kevin, Martin told the congregation:
“Where it can be ascertained that individuals hold direct responsibility in this traffic in evil they will no longer be allowed to exploit religious services in the Archdiocese of Dublin to enhance their image.”
He added: “In the past weeks, this violence has taken on an unprecedented level of depravity with shootings taking place unscrupulously near schools and shopping centres, leaving families terrified and children witnessing brutality that will leave scars on their lives for years.
“Who are the people who carry out and sponsor such violence? Where do they think they have a mandate to carry out such shameful violence simply in order to secure their own wealth?
“The perpetrators and sponsors of such violence merit nothing but rejection and disdain. They belong behind bars and their business of death must be undermined and destroyed.”
When asked about the shootings during Leaders’ Questions, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he wanted to share his “collective revulsion” at the killings.
“I want to share with the house our collective revulsion at the killings that have happened in different parts of Dublin and in also in Drogheda in recent weeks and to express solidarity with the communities in which these killings have happened,” he said, adding that he and the Minister for Justice would visit Darndale and Coolock soon.
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