Dublin ranks 6th among European capitals for murder rate

DUBLIN has the sixth-highest murder rate in Europe, figures have revealed.

The United Nations statistics also show that Ireland is ranked 10th out of 29 European countries, in terms of homicides carried out in 2006.

This means Ireland has a higher homicide rate than England and Wales. When comparing capital cities, Dublin in sixth is four places above London in the table.

The Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have by far the highest rates for homicide, which in Ireland includes murder and manslaughter.

Lithuania has a rate of 8.13 homicides per 100,000 people, followed by Estonia (6.79) and Latvia (6.47).

Portugal is in fourth position (2.15), followed by Scotland and Finland (both 2.13).

Ireland is 10th (1.59), two places above England and Wales (1.41) and three places higher than the north (1.33).

Ireland has a significantly higher rate than most western European countries, including states with a significant problem with organised crime, such as Italy (1.06), the Netherlands (0.97) and Spain (0.77).

The data is compiled by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and is in its annual Crime Trends Survey 2005-2006.

There were 67 homicides in Ireland in 2006 and 65 in 2005. This compares with 755 murders in England and Wales in 2006, 109 in Scotland and 23 in the north. The report contains figures on 78 countries worldwide.

The highest murder rates are in South America, with El Salvador topping the global table, with 3,927 homicides in 2006, a rate of 58.07 per 100,000 people.

The US had 17,034 homicides in 2006, a rate of 5.62.

The UN data also gives a breakdown based on the largest city in 29 European countries.

Dublin is high up the table, with the sixth worst homicide rate (3.02), significantly higher than London in 10th (2.25).

The Baltic states again dominated, with the Latvian capital Riga in top position (7.56), followed by the Lithuanian capital Vilnius (5.78).

Glasgow in Scotland (5.34) edged Estonia’s Tallinn (5.3) into fourth position. In fifth came Belfast (3.37), then Dublin. Ireland’s capital also had a significantly worse homicide rate than most European capitals including Rome (0.96), Prague (1.69), Madrid (1.18), Berlin (1.47) and Zagreb (1.41).

The UN report said there were varying legal definitions of homicide among countries. The data for Ireland includes the number of murder (60) and manslaughter (7) cases.

That number rose significantly in 2007, when there was 84 homicides — 78 murders and six manslaughter cases. Indications suggest this number dropped significantly in 2008, despite the spate of murders towards the end of December.