More than 6,000 knives seized by gardaí, with 200 people in Cork convicted for possession  

The average sentence imposed by the District Court for possession of a knife was four-and-a-half months

Sixty-three people were convicted in Cork city last year for possession of a knife. Picture: Denis Minihane.

More than 200 people have been convicted in Cork city for the possession of a knife in the past three years, with gardaí seizing more than 6,000 weapons across the country since 2019.

The average sentence imposed by the District Court last year for possession of a knife was four-and-a-half months according to separate statistics from the Department of Justice.,

Latest figures show that 475 people were convicted in Ireland last year for possession of a knife, up from 437 in 2020, while 2019 saw 518 convictions.

Almost half of these (205) were in Dublin, with Cork city next on 63 convictions; a further 17 people were convicted in Limerick and 15 in Galway.

In providing the figures via parliamentary question, junior minister at the Department of Justice James Browne said the figures are for the District Court only, meaning they may underestimate the number of offences reaching the court.

He said: “It should be noted that, where a more serious offence is committed and a knife is used in the commission of that offence (for example, assault or murder), that the charge brought forward will be usually for the more serious offence, and not solely possession of a weapon.” 

A total of 1,818 knives were seized last year. This was a drop from 2,253 in 2020 and 2,145 in 2019. 

Proactive policing leads to drop in knife seizures

Mr Brown said the number seized in 2020 could be attributed to “proactive policing operations” such as the increased garda presence during the period of Covid-19 restrictions.

Across 2020 and 2021, the average sentence given out for possession of a knife was four-and-a-half months and this includes both custodial and suspended sentences; the average sentence in 2019 was 4.7 months.

Mr Browne said that within the Expert Forum on Anti-Social Behaviour, there is a knife crime subgroup seeking to inform policy in this area.

At the time of its meeting, the minister noted that “at present, there is a lack of robust, shared knowledge on ‘what works’ in reducing knife carrying and knife crime”.

Mr Browne added: “Rather than simply considering punitive approaches, it is important that we also consider more holistic, community-oriented approaches that deal with the underlying factors.”

This group first met in September 2021 and is due to conclude its work in the coming months.