The real crime is not arresting decline in rural Ireland

Rural Ireland is in long-term decline principally due to economic forces, writes Michael Clifford

THERE is no rural crime epidemic. There is no rural crime wave, sweeping across the country, driven by marauding thugs whose stock-in-trade is terror. These statements may, to some, appear self-evident, but to anybody engaging with the media over the last few months, they need to be spelt out in plain English.

The impression conveyed by vested interests is that rural Ireland is going through an epidemic of burglaries, most of which are perpetrated by recidivist thieves terrorising home and farm owners. This is simply not the case.