Why the long wait for the Government to get tough on crime?

After he was appointed Taoiseach last week, Simon Harris recommitted to security being a core value for Fine Gael. “We stand for more gardaí, with more powers and more resources to make our streets safe. We stand for tougher sentences for those who commit horrific crimes,” he said.

He also pledged to fast-track legislation to enable judges to guarantee what he termed “heinous criminals” serving long sentences, before being considered for release.

His words were tailored to fit the public mood. Matching them with actions would be the next step.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee now appears to have taken up the baton, if you can pardon the pun. She has introduced tougher sentencing for knife crimes. The maximum sentence for a range of knife-related offences will rise from five to seven years.

A crackdown to target antisocial behaviour is also in train. It’s accepted that punishment alone lacks the power to permanently prevent crime, but it should at least be a potent deterrent.

But if, as they say, a crime is anything that a group in power can choose to prohibit, it is reasonable to ask: why has it taken until now to bring in more severe sanctions?

Ideally, law and order in a society comes from having respect for one another.

In their absence, there has to be a framework for protection and enforcement.

There is a palpable perception that there has been a steady rise in criminality, and antisocial behaviour in particular, since the pandemic.

Anyone who spends time in Dublin’s city centre after dark will find it hard not to notice the open use of drugs and the intimidating air of menace.

Plans for garda bodycams, the use of facial recognition technology and the use of Tasers are now being considered.

Providing they are used judiciously, all of the above have a role to play. Speaking on RTÉ, Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy appealed for greater investment in youth services and preventative measures after figures on knife crime revealed the frightening quantity of knives being seized around the country.

Ms Murphy is right: deprivation, poverty and lack of opportunity are undeniably drivers of disaffection and alienation.

Neglect and lack of investment have contributed to feelings of marginalisation.

Yet law-biding citizens everywhere have a right to expect to be protected against aggression, violence and theft. For too long, too many who found laws inconvenient had the luxury of flouting them.

Nothing is more devastating to a community than out-of-control crime.

It is a truism of law and order that you cannot police a community you are not a part of.

Making gardaí more visible, and putting more of them back on the street, now needs to move from being a reassuring soundbite to an objective reality.