Significant increase in assaults last year as levels of violence surge in south Dublin

A significant decline in assaults during the pandemic, when pubs and clubs were closed, has given way to much higher rates of violence on the streets of the Republic, new data reveals.

In parts of south Dublin, the number of hate crimes reported in the first 11 months of last year, at 43 cases, was 60 per cent higher than in the previous year, and much higher than other crime types such as drug driving, at 16 cases, or breaches of barring orders, of which there were 10 cases.

In that same area – the Garda’s Dublin South Central Division including Temple Bar and other popular night-time economy locations – common assaults increased by more than 60 per cent last year while serious assaults were up by almost 90 per cent.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said crimes against the person – assaults, threats, harassment and other crimes – had increased nationally for a three-year period before the pandemic struck, and the trend was then reversed.

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“In 2022, however, reported crimes against the person have been 8 per cent higher than the same period in 2019, indicating a possible resumption of the upward trend that was occurring before the pandemic,” he said in his latest report to the Policing Authority.

The commissioner’s report to the authority deals with the national crime trends last year, while a separate joint policing committee report sets out specific crime trends in those parts of south Dublin policed by Pearse Street and Donnybrook Garda stations.

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Mr Harris added that assaults in public places, which account for about two-thirds of all assaults that come to the attention of gardaí, had increased by 31 per cent nationally in the 12 months to the end of last November. Assaults in private residences were up by 4 per cent nationally. Overall, assaults across the Republic were 5 per cent higher in the first 11 months of last year compared to the same period in 2019, before the pandemic.

However, other crime types had not yet reached pre-pandemic levels, with the number of sexual offences reported to the Garda 9 per cent lower nationwide in the first 11 months of last year compared to the previous corresponding period.

Mr Harris said the gradual increase in sex offences in the Republic reported to the Garda in the five years before the pandemic, when they were at record levels, may be partly attributable to victims being more willing to come forward, and “ongoing efforts” by the Garda to better record those sexual crimes that were reported.

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Burglary rates remained 40 per cent lower last year nationally compared with pre-pandemic levels. Garda sources told The Irish Times the higher prevalence of working from home appeared to be deterring many burglars.

“A house being occupied won’t stop some burglars,” said one source. “But when you have houses occupied in the middle of the afternoon, overall that is going to have an impact – and that appears to be what we’re seeing.”

Mr Harris’s report to the Policing Authority warned the usual winter seasonal spike in burglaries was likely in the current period. While public order crimes in the Republic had increased last year by 6 per cent, and “drunkenness” was up by 18 per cent, there were still fewer public order offences committed last year than in the 2019 pre-pandemic period.

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A separate report by Chief Supt Anthony O’Donnell of the DMR South Central Division – covering the Pearse Street and Donnybrook Garda station areas – revealed the number of vehicles stolen in the area had increased by 67 per cent, to 140 cases, in the first 11 months of last year.

Theft from the person increased four-fold to 827 cases, in that south Dublin area, while possession of drugs for sale or supply was down 26 per cent, and possession of drugs for personal use was 30 per cent lower. However, Garda sources said detecting drug crime was resource-intensive, and some believed the downward trend in detections was at least partly attributable to declining Garda numbers rather than any fall-off in drug use.