Crime stats show need for increased Garda numbers in Clare – Crowe

Clare Fianna Fáil TD, Cathal Crowe has renewed calls for additional Gardai to be assigned to County Clare following newly released figures which show over 3,300 instances of crime in the county in 2024.

Deputy Crowe made the comments following reporting from the Irish Independent this week which showed that while the number of crimes has remained static since 2019, seven Garda stations have reported increases in crimes.

Deputy Crowe said: “While I welcome decreases in stations such as Kilrush, Ennis and Shannon, there are concerning increases in areas such as Sixmilebridge, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Ardnacrusha and Killaloe.

“Killaloe had the highest number of crimes reported (210) outside of Ennis, Shannon and Kilrush, and witnessed a 32% increase in crimes, while Sixmilebridge has seen an increase of 34% in reported crimes – the largest of any Clare station.

“Miltown Malbay, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Scariff and Tulla also saw increases in reported crime, which is of concern to residents of those areas.

“With Garda recruitment in Templemore finally on the rise, the Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, should soon be able to bolster Garda numbers in different divisions. I will be making the case to him and the Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan, for a particular emphasis to be put on the Clare-Tipperary Garda Division.

“Whilst I fully and wholeheartedly support the efforts of the Chief Superintendent of this Division, and her team, but it is a fact that Garda numbers in Clare have been down for some years now and the most recent crime stats would show that we are in need for additional policing.

“Crime stats can be looked at in two ways. Firstly, it shows that the Gardai that we have working in our county are achieving a lot with limited resources and manpower in terms of crime detection, but it also means that the public are making more complaints, vis-à-vis 999 emergency calls and this is an indicator that more needs to be done in our county to have people feeling safer and to curb lawlessness.

“The trend in recent years has been for graduates of Templemore to be immediately posted to stations in Dublin City and whilst there is an understandable need for our capital to be well policed, the lack of new recruits coming to Clare is definitely showing and needs to be addressed.

“I have also mentioned to the Minister for Justice that the number of Guards stationed in County Clare needs to be counted differently to other counties, given that the policing of Shannon Airport, which is a national, state-owned piece of infrastructure, is also in their remit.”