Dublin tops Berlin, Rome and Paris on rate of homicide

DUBLIN is in the top half of the European table for the number of homicides per head of population.

The figure for the capital city shows there were 2.26 homicides per 100,000 people, with a rate of 1.28 for Ireland as a whole.

The homicide rates in European capitals varied from as low as zero for Valletta, capital of Malta, to as high as 9.75 for Tallinn, capital of Estonia. Dublin, however, scored a higher rate than cities such as Berlin, Madrid, Rome and Paris, but was relatively close to Edinburgh (2.41) and London (2.64).

Overall, Dublin was ranked 13th out of 29 European cities, according to the study by the European Union statistics agency Eurostat.

Ireland, meanwhile, was ranked 17th out of 27 EU countries and 19th out of 29 countries — if separate figures are given for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The comparisons were based on the average number of homicides between 2003 and 2005 in all the states.

The second-highest murder rate was in Lithuania, with its capital Vilnius scoring a rate of 8.92.

The report on Crime and Criminal Justice shows the total numbers of recorded crimes has remained largely unchanged in Ireland between 1995 and 2005.

However, the figure has risen sharply by almost 40% since 2000 after dropping in the previous five years. Violent crime has jumped by more than 50% between 1995 and 2005, reaching a peak in 2002. The number of robberies fell since 2000. The report said there was a 5% annual rise in the number of domestic burglaries between 2000 and 2005.

There was a jump of more than 50% in drug trafficking and also a 13% rise in motor theft between 2000 and 2005.

In relation to prisons, the report said the prison population in the EU was estimated to be rising by about 2% annually, with higher growth rates in Ireland. “Particularly steep rises have occurred in Cyprus (10% per year), Slovenia (7%), Austria (5%), the Netherlands, Ireland, Poland and Malta and Britain (all 4%),” it said.

The study noted Ireland had one of the lowest number of prisoners per head of population, with 76 inmates per 100,000.

The higher rates were in central and eastern Europe, with Latvia topping the table with 329 prisoners per 100,000 people.

Eurostat said member states with the fastest growing police forces were Luxembourg, Cyprus and Spain (all 3% per year) and Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Greece (all 2%).