Following the publication today (Friday) of the Central Statistics Office (CSO) third Quarterly Household Survey, householders are being urged to remain on their guard in the run up to the Christmas period.
In the 12 month period up to the end of September 2015, 28,407 burglary and related offences were recorded nationwide (CSO 2015). Of these burglaries 386 were recorded in the Clare Garda Division, an increase of 42 in the previous 12 month period (CSO 2015).
Commenting on the number of burglaries, PhoneWatch managing director, Eoin Dunne said, “The annual statistics serve as an important reminder to us all about the importance of protecting our homes. The steady continuance in burglary and related offences is truly alarming and indicates that the level of burglary has not decreased as the economy improves. We are urging all householders to remain vigilant, especially in the run up to Christmas, which is peak season for opportunist burglars.”
According to data released by PhoneWatch’s Alarm Receiving Centre, burglars – surprisingly – are most likely to try and gain access to homes through the front door.
“The front and back doors are the main ways for burglars to enter homes. If we look at alarm activations monitored by PhoneWatch, 50% were caused by attempted front and back door intrusions. So security at these points of entry, as well as strong external lighting at the front and back doors is very important to protect against burglaries,” said Mr Dunne.
“We’re in the peak of the burglary season. We’ve been monitoring Irish homes for nearly 25 years and over that time we’ve seen attempted break-ins peak between October and January on an annual basis. The longer darker evenings protect opportunist burglars with the cover of darkness, enabling them to sneak around properties virtually undetected”, he added.
Crimestoppers, together with the gardai and PhoneWatch recently launched a campaign to combat the problem of burglary. Irish Crimestoppers Trust (www.crimestoppers.ie) is a confidential means for every citizen to report crime, without fear of recrimination, by calling a freephone confidential number: 1800 25 00 25.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.