Santry burglaries increased last year

Jack Gleeson

BURGLARIES in Santry increased year-on-year during 2015 according to Garda statistics given to the North West Joint Policing Committee last month.

The figures show that while burglaries are down by over 40 per cent in Ballymun, they rose by seven per cent in neighbouring Santry.

Last year CSO figures showed Santry had the highest increase in the average number of burglaries in Dublin’s Northern Garda Division and Gardai responded to the spike by deploying additional plain clothes and uniform patrols in the area and recommencing high profile anti-burglary patrols.

However, local councillor, Noeleen Reilly, says that while additional resources were welcome, they weren’t enough.

“The community in Santry took a blow in 2013 when the Garda Station was downgraded along with the closure of the Whitehall station,” she said.

“Garda numbers in the area have reduced by 10 per cent since 2011 and at the same time burglaries in the area are up by seven per cent from 2014 -2015.

“Many residents in Santry will tell you that because of the changes they simply do not feel safe anymore in their homes anymore.”

The local statistics are in stark contrast to the CSO’s latest National Household Survey for 2015, which showed a reduction in burglaries across Dublin.

Dublin showed a decrease from 12,208 in 2014 to 11,593 by the end of Q4 2015. 

Apart from the Santry burglary statistics, most other crime categories are down according to the local statistics presented to the North West Joint Policing Committee.

A decrease in criminal damage has been put down to increased patrols while more patrols in parks and public areas has resulted in a reduction of public order incidents.