Anyone aged 30 or older will know enough about the history of internment without trial on this island for the proposal to send a shiver down their spine. The last ‘organised’ strategy of internment on this island was Operation Demetrius, in Northern Ireland in the 1970s. It involved the internment without charge or trial of people accused of being members of illegal paramilitary groups. From 1971 to 1975, the Operation led to the arrest of 1,981 people, of which 1,874 were nationalists, and 107 unionist or loyalist. It was a disaster, inflaming sectarian tension and failing in its objective of arresting members of the Provisional IRA—indeed, many of the people arrested were completely unconnected with the organisation.

Well, Cllr Kiely must be taken seriously. He's the chairman of Limerick’s Joint Policing Committee. And only a fool would disagree that incidents like last week's machine-gun attack in St Mary’s Park cannot go unanswered.

But is it wise to consider a strategy, the likes of which led the British government to suspend the then Stormont administration, and impose direct rule from Westminster; and the Irish to take a case to the European Commission of Human Rights?

True, huge mistakes were made in Operation Demetrius. And the backlash stemmed as much from the interrogation techniques those who were arrested were subjected to.

But how would the authorities in this State and region be successful where others failed so spectacularly? How effective would such a system be? Who draws up the lists of gang members? Will it drive underground the decent people living in the communities where these gangsters reside? And would it expose our unarmed gardaí to terrible danger as they go about their day to day duties in Limerick?

Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan seems to have effectively ruled out the option, albeit citing the need for a Constitutional referendum on the issue. But there’s a simple principle at stake here. Machine-gun attacks in residential areas may mean we are living in desperate times—whether it’s wise to go to such lengths in the quest for a solution is another matter.

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