Clondalkin and Tallaght amongst highest on burglary figures list
By Mary Dennehy
MORE than one-fifth of the country’s Top 50 crime spots for burglaries are located within local communities, many of which lie close to main road networks and arteries.
In official data provided by An Garda Síochána to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), Clondalkin is ranked fourth in the Top 50 crime spots for burglary and related offences, with 519 burglaries per 100,000 population.
Tallaght is 11th with 372, Rathfarnham 27th with 303, Ronanstown, Clondalkin’s second station, ranks 34th with 287, Lucan is listed as number 37 with 285, Ballyfermot comes in at number 48 with 268 and Rathcoole is number 49 with 266.
Other neighbouring stations on the Top 50 list include Kilmainham, Crumlin, Blessington, Terenure and Sundrive Road.
Local Garda chiefs have stressed that the figures need to be looked at in the context of the large population bases within some of the areas like Clondalkin and Tallaght, and the number of houses, businesses and industrial centres present.
Figures released at a recent Joint Policing Meeting [JPC] in County Hall, revealed that to date in 2015, 705 burglaries have been committed in Tallaght, 456 in Rathfarnham, 233 in Lucan, 592 in both Clondalkin and Ronanstown, 121 in Rathcoole and 222 in Crumlin.
The detection rates for burglaries in Tallaght is 7 per cent while rates for muggings is 29 per cent and robbery from an establishment is 46 per cent.
In Clondalkin, the detection rate for burglaries, which are up 42 per cent on this time last year, is 5 per cent while in Ronanstown the detection rate for burglaries, which are up 22 per cent, is also 5 per cent.
Tallaght and Rathfarnham Superintendent, Peter Duff told The Echo: “There is a marginal change on most of the crimes stats compared to last year, some stats are marginally up and others marginally down.
“Theft from cars is down quite a bit and this could be down to an awareness among the public about storing car keys safely and away from hall tables – from which many sets of keys were being fished through letter boxes.
“If you back over the stats from recent years, you will see that the figures are cylindrical and the figures for local stations reflect the figures nationally, they don’t deviate too much from national trends.”
He added: “It’s important not to view statistics in isolation.
“These figures are merely a snapshot and in areas such as Tallaght and Clondalkin, where there is a large population base, there will be more burglaries.
“It is important that at this time of the year that people are aware of their personal and home security and to be mindful of locking windows and doors, using alarms and not leaving valuables on show.”
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