Irish Examiner view: We have to change our strategy on shoplifting

It is a malign escalator which often precedes an increase in more serious crime

The most recent figures from the CSO confirmed that two thirds of a 7% increase in theft is attributable to the stealing of goods from shops. 

There has been a joke doing the rounds that Britain has changed from being a nation of shopkeepers into a nation of shoplifters. 

But the hollow laughter may be on us now as data increasingly points to Ireland following the same path.