Anger as forum to enhance community safety in Cork City refuses to share crime statistics

Senior gardaí said they were blocked from publishing the statistics as the forum was established on a statutory footing

TDs and councillors slammed the new rules, saying local representatives need accurate information to respond with policy to make communities safer.

Anger erupted in Cork City Hall on Friday when a new forum to enhance community safety in Cork City refused to comprehensively share crime statistics, sparking allegations of secrecy and whitewashing.

TDs and councillors slammed the new rules, saying local representatives need accurate information to respond with policy to make communities safer.

But senior gardaí said they were blocked from publishing the statistics as the forum — the Local Community Safety Partnership (LCSP) — was established on a statutory footing and members therefore were forced to operate within its specific parameters.

Such crime statistics were always made available under the previous incarnation of the LCSP — the Joint Policing Committees, allowing the public and politicians to understand, analyse, and discuss crime in their communities.

“What’s the secrecy about? This is public information that should be revealed to the public,” Sinn Féin's Tommy Gould told the Irish Examiner.

To be fair, it's not Cork City Council’s fault, it’s not the gardaí's fault. The gardaí and Cork City Council are now trapped by the legislation.

“To me, the minister [for justice] and the department is limiting the gardaí, not allowing the gardaí to present information."

Mr Gould said it is “impossible” to read the statistics shown only on a screen at the LCSP with an apparent legal block to printing or sharing them comprehensively.

“In my opinion this is a whitewash," he said. “It’s not good enough and I’ll be looking to raise this with the minister for justice.” 

Mr Gould said he will enter urgent parliamentary questions on the matter.

Fine Gael minister of State Jerry Buttimer and Labour senator Laura Harmon also supported Mr Gould’s call for crime statistics to be made fully public at the LCSP.

Fianna Fáil councillor Terry Shannon said he understood people’s concerns with the new format and appealed to people to be patient.

As it is the first LCSP in the city — and in the country — he said issues would arise which should be addressed.

Superintendent John Deasy, who has been widely praised in Cork for recent improvements to policing in the city, shared what information was allowed under the current LCSP rules.

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The crime of deception saw a significant spike last year, as financial companies began reporting online fraud more thoroughly to gardaí. 

This spike mirrored the trend nationally, Supt Deasy told the LCSP.

Assaults in the Cork city policing area had also increased significantly, growing from 916 in 2024 to 1,006 in 2025 — a 9.8% increase.

However, part of this increase was likely due to an increase in high visibility policing in Cork city, which was resulting in increased arrests and interventions, Supt Deasy said.

Murder threats had also increased, rising from 57 in 2024 to 71 in 2025.

Mental health incidents continue to take up significant garda resources, with some 434 incidents recorded last year.

Following the tragic death of teenager Grace Lynch in Dublin, scrambler bikes were raised as a serious concern at the LCSP.

Some 55 scrambler bikes have been seized by gardaí in the Cork city policing district since 2023.

Some 49 e-scooters and 14 e-bikes have also been seized over this period.

Mr Gould said that these vehicles have been a significant problem in Cork for some time.

Last weekend, I had to ring the gardaí three different times because of scrambler bikes on the road. I passed one guy doing a wheelie on the main road in the city. No helmet, no lighting on. He could have been killed.

"I passed another one with two children under the age of 14, I would say, if not younger, on the bike.

"And then there's people ringing me from different communities saying that the scrambler bikes are on parks and playgrounds and footpaths where pedestrians are walking."

But because the figures on scrambler and e-bike crime was not comprehensively released, he said he was forced to leave the meeting without the information on it he came in for.

He also said that petrol bomb attacks should be treated as a more serious crime than arson – their current classification under the law.

“When someone throws a petrol bomb or grenade into a house where people — and children — are, that in my book is attempted murder, or an attempt to cause serious harm,” he said.

Petrol bomb attacks in Cork have been common over the last three to four years, he said.

“People are being driven out of their homes," he said.

One housing estate in Ballyvolane is currently terrorised due to repeated petrol bomb attacks there, he said.

“We need a zero tolerance policy when it comes to these crimes.”