‘No rise’ in Cork city break-in cases

Gardaí say there has been no spike in burglaries in Cork city centre, despite several high-profile incidents targeting city centre businesses over Christmas.

The latest garda figures show that the number of burglaries reported in December 2014 in the Anglesea Street garda district, which includes the suburbs of Blackrock and Mahon, was the same compared to the same period in 2013.

However, Supt Barry McPolin urged people to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious activity to gardaí.

“If a crime happens, we would urge people to report it to us. We can’t act if we don’t know about it,” said Supt McPolin.

Calls from the public also help gardaí identify crime hotspots which influences policing on the ground, he said.

Burglars targeted Pinnochio’s Toy Shop on Paul St on Christmas Eve and burglars ransacked the Half Door Cafe and the three floors above it on nearby French Church St on New Year’s Eve.

However, the latest garda statistics show there were 19 reported burglaries across the entire Anglesea Street garda district between December 1 and 31 last — the same for the same period in 2013.

The figures from last month show that six of the 19 reported burglaries were in the city centre area.

Three of them targeted residential or apartment accommodation and three targeted business premises on the South Mall, Paul St, and on St Patrick’s St.

The Half Door Cafe burglary and another incident at the Crawford College of Art will be included in the January 2015 figures.

Cork Chamber chief executive, Conor Healy, said that the issue will be raised at the next meeting of Cork City Centre Forum later this month.