Limerick ranks seventh in the league table for crime rates despite being the State's third-largest city, a senior Garda officer said yesterday after the debate on the city's tarnished image was reopened.
Chief Supt Liam Quinn of the Limerick division said crime in the city was not any worse than any other urban centre and was better in many instances. The latest published figures, for 1999, show the number of indictable crimes per 1,000 people in Limerick is 18.35, fewer than Dublin (38.6) and Cork (26.2), and slightly ahead of Galway west (15.4).
Limerick's rate is also less than that of Louth/Meath, Waterford/ Kilkenny, Longford/Westmeath and Carlow/Kildare.
The new mayor of Limerick, Cllr Dick Sadlier, defended the city's reputation on radio yesterday following press reports of a district judge's comments that he was amazed at the number of assaults involving knives. Judge Tom O'Donnell said Limerick had a bad name for "this type of thing" and added that he wondered if the city deserved the name it had.
Chief Supt Quinn added that unpublished figures for the first six months of this year for "assault causing harm" showed Dublin to have 448, Cork 92, Limerick 79 and Galway 42.
Mr Sadlier said the judge's comments had attracted sensationalist headlines. The city often received unjustified negative publicity but its essence was reflected in sport, particularly in the rugby achievements of the past decade. "I do not believe there has ever been a serious incident and I think most of our visitors have had the fondest memories of our city."
He said the same people who were at last Sunday's Munster hurling final attended rugby and soccer matches. "I think it is extremely unfair that Limerick is targeted in this way and ridiculed and reviled in a totally unjustified manner relative to the rest of the country. It is the relative treatment of Limerick which causes such offence."