Irish kidnappings and robberies are on the up, according to latest data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ireland’s national statistics agency.
Weapons offenses are also on the rise in Ireland, according to the data.
Fortunately it wasn’t all bad news though: murders, drug importing and gun crimes all fell between April and June, the time period under consideration.
Fine Gael's Charlie Flanagan seized on the opportunity to say that people were right to feel “nervous on the streets” in light of the recently released data, while Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern admitted he was concerned by the rise in robberies, but insisted efforts were being made to tackle the problem.
"An Garda Siochana will continue to develop and implement strategies to target those committing such crimes, which are often carried out against vulnerable members of the community," the Minister said, while also welcoming another decrease in drink driving offenses.
Key figures from the report, include that:
- Drink-driving offenses also fell by almost a quarter to 2,911.
- There were 12 murders between April and June, down from 15 during the same period last year.
- There were almost 1,000 crimes relating to weapons and explosives - up by 7 percent.
- Almost 490 individuals were robbed - up 60percent on last year - while cash-in-transit robberies were also up.
Labour leader Pat Rabbite said that the overall crime rate in the country was “unacceptably high”, adding, "burglaries and robberies are the crimes that impact most severely on ordinary families and can only successfully be combated by a strong visible garda presence on the ground, particularly in those areas where the threat is greatest.
"The modest decrease in the number of murder and gun offenses is welcome, but it must be noted that these figures do not include the spate of murders and gun attacks that we have seen during July."
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