DUBLIN

THE PRESENCE OF so many brutal criminals among its immigrant population has people and commentators speculating on whether Ireland perhaps has a special visa program for drug gangs and the like.

“We seem to be attracting the violent rejects from around the rest of the world,” insists Stanislaus Hoch, a former police officer who tracks drug gangs across the globe. “Which has folks here thinking that either the authorities in Ireland are utterly hopeless, or we’re maybe offering specific visas to drug pushers, rapists and killers. When people on the run from other jurisdictions are given asylum here, you have to ask yourself if there’s more to it than mere stupidity.”