Murders double in last year, CSO data shows

The CSO data continues to be published “under reservation”, meaning the CSO remains concerned at the quality of the Garda data.

The number of murders have almost doubled in the last year, official figures show. CSO crime data reveals there were 47 murders in the year ending June of this year, compared to 24 in the previous year.

The figures show that the total number of homicides — also including dangerous driving causing death and manslaughter — was 71 in the year ending Q2 2023. This compares to 54 the previous year and is the highest since 2019 (74).

Other figures from the CSO show that there were 44 murders during the full year of 2022, which was the highest number of murders since 2014 (47).

The CSO data continues to be published “under reservation”, meaning the CSO remains concerned at the quality of the Garda data.

Figures for the year to Q2 (June) 2023 show:

• A 25% increase in theft offences, from 56,951 to 71,284 and compares to just under 68,000 pre-pandemic in 2019.
• A 21% rise in robbery cases, from 1,918 to 2,328, and is almost as high as 2019 figures (2,390);
• A 3% increase in assault cases, from 22,986 to 23,713, and significantly higher than 2019 numbers (20,976);
• A 6% rise in drug offences, from 16,712 to 17,683, but well down on 2019 data (20,005) 

Crime categories that experienced a drop in the last year include dangerous or negligent acts (-11%), kidnapping offences (-13%), burglary (-8%) and fraud offences (-37%).

The increase in assault cases was driven by a 5% rise in minor assaults and a 4% rise in harassment. 

In assault cases where victims were identified, there was an 8% increase in cases where the victim was a male juvenile (under 18). The other significant rise in assaults was among both genders aged over 60, increasing by 13% for men and 21% for women.

The increase in robbery cases was fuelled by a 17% jump in robbery from the person and a 61% increase in blackmail. While burglary cases fell overall there was a 5% rise in aggravated burglaries and a 26% rise in burglars carrying a weapon.

Homicide, theft and robbery crimes rose but fraud crime fell in the year to Quarter 2 2023https://t.co/SsosuqwO0m#CSOIreland #Ireland #Crime #RecordedCrime #CrimeStatistics #CrimeStats pic.twitter.com/6pFUqLrMpD

— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) September 25, 2023

The increase in theft cases included a 27% jump in theft from a shop, a 57% increase in theft from the person and a 33% rise in car theft.

The increase in drug offences included a 13% rise in importation cases and a 15% increase in supply cases. There was a 4% increase in possession of drugs for personal use.

There was a 5% increase in weapon offences, including an 8% increase in possession of firearms.

In terms of a regional breakdown, the largest increase in homicide offences was in Dublin (+47%), with the lowest in the Southern region (+8%). The Southern region recorded the biggest rise for robbery cases (+64%).