Revealed: Areas of Dublin where crime rate is 1,000pc higher than national average

Sunday World

07-05-2025

The stats for 15 garda districts in Dublin were retrieved by the Sunday World using a new open-source website, Crimestats.ie
The crime rate in some parts of Dublin is 1,000pc higher than the national average, a new analysis shows.
In the Pearse Street garda district, there were a total of 10,683 crimes recorded in the official figures for last year from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
Broken down by the area's population, there were 456 crimes in the Pearse Street district per 1,000 people – 1,040pc higher than the national average.
In the Store Street district, this figure stood at 440, which is 1,000pc higher than the national average of around 41 crimes per 1,000 people.
The stats for 15 garda districts in Dublin were retrieved by the Sunday World using a new open-source website, Crimestats.ie. The tool works by identifying your local garda station by your Eircode and providing the CSO crime figures for last year in that area.
Crimestats.ie was developed by Brian Fox, a former garda and holder of a master's degree in criminology, who said he felt there was a gap in the public availability of local information on crime in Ireland. The tool is now being backed by the security firm Manguard.
'I was a member of the guards for five years and I realised a lot of people asked where their local garda station was and what the local crime rate was,' he said.
'I remember thinking, wouldn't it be great if you could just punch in an address and get this information really easily? The main goal is to make these statistics as approachable to every single person as possible.'
Daniel Ennis, a councillor based in the north inner city, said the high crime rates in the city centre are 'shocking, but not surprising' to those who live in the area.
The Social Democrats councillor said residents of the north inner city have become used to seeing crime, such as drug dealing out in the streets.
'It's scary. I'm raising a family in the area myself, and I just can't accept it,' Mr Ennis said.
A lot of women, elderly women in particular, will not walk down the likes of Talbot Street anymore
'Does it take the most serious of incidents for us to see action? Is that our normal now? We won't be accepting that.
'When people from the north inner city don't witness something like an open drug deal, that's a surprise.
'A lot of women, elderly women in particular, will not walk down the likes of Talbot Street anymore. Some of them won't walk down to their local corner shop.'
Mr Ennis said there is a feeling among long-term residents of the inner city that the area has been neglected.
'There is a real neglect of the people what have lived on these streets for generations,' he said. 'They're talking about these problems a very long time, for decades, and we're seeing the results of that neglect and lack of care for our city-centre and the inner-city community.'
Part of the analysis provided by Crimestats.ie is a system outlining how high the crime rate is in each area.
The crime rate is considered 'very high' if it is more than 40pc above the national average, 'high' if is between 10pc and 40pc above the national average, and 'average' is it is within 10pc of the national average.
Garda station. Stock image
News in 90 Seconds - Tuesday, May 6th
Crime rates were 'very high' in eight out of a sample of 15 areas in and around Dublin city: Store Street, Pearse Street, Fitzgibbon Street (88pc above the average), Mountjoy (110pc), Bridewell (682pc), Kilmainham (88pc), Kevin Street (205pc) and Clondalkin (48pc).
To ensure fair comparisons between each district, Mr Fox said crime rates are calculated using the garda's population density estimates in each district.
'It's not very fair to measure crime rates in Stephen's Green against Corr na Móna, so by factoring in population densities you can start measuring two places against each other,' he said.
The crime rate was categorised as 'average' in three of the garda districts sampled – Donnybrook, Cabra and Crumlin. It was deemed 'high' in four districts – Irishtown, Ballyfermot, Sundrive Road and Rathmines.
Figures from the CSO show a drop in crime at several stations
Crimestats.ie also calculates the trend in crime over the last five years in each area. The largest rise was in Bridewell, where the total level of crime has risen by 94pc in that period.
Both Sundrive Road and Rathmines had five-year increases of 25pc.
In Cabra (-9pc) and Clondalkin (-8pc), there have been decreases in the level of recorded crime.
Five districts had no significant change in the last five years: Fitzgibbon Street, Mountjoy, Kilmainham, Ballyfermot and Crumlin.
By comparison, the crime rate in Galway city was 90pc higher than the national average, in Cork (Anglesea St) it was 820pc, Limerick's (Henry St) was 212pc, and Waterford city's was 82pc.
A garda spokesperson said gardaí in the Dublin Metropolitan Region 'remain committed to ensuring that people are kept safe through a number of policing operations'.
The spokesperson noted that there was a 7pc reduction in overall recorded crime nationally between 2019 and 2024.
'Long-term trends continue to demonstrate an ongoing and sustained reduction in recorded crime. Figures from the CSO show a drop in crime at several stations in Dublin like Malahide (-33pc), Rathfarnham (-31pc) and Blackrock (-2pc),' they said.