THE murder rate in Ireland has nearly doubled this year as incidents of robbery, extortion and hijacking soared across the country.
Figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) for the months of April, May and June 2023, show homicide offences increased by 31 per cent in this period – with murder offences making up most of that figure.
The murder rate nearly doubled over the three months, rising to 47 cases from 24 in the same period in 2022, the CSO figures confirm.
Their figures further show a huge rise in cases involving robbery, extortion and hijacking in Ireland, which are up up by 21 per cent – or 410 cases – bringing the 2023 figure to 2328 incidents.
Ireland has recorded a significant increase in serious crimes this yearTheft offences have also risen by 25 per cent this year, bringing the 2023 figures to 71,284 incidents.
Most of these cases were thefts from shops, which contributed to nearly half of the increase and was up by 27 per cent over the year.
Commenting on the publication, Jim Dalton, a CSO Statistician in the Crime & Criminal Justice Section, said: “Recorded Crime statistics published today for April, May, and June (Q2) 2023 showed that homicide, robbery and theft crimes were up in the year to Q2 2023 compared with a year earlier while fraud crime was down.”
The CSO highlights a reduction in fraud offences this year.
“Crime incidents involving fraud, deception and related offences were down 37 per cent to 10,300 over the same period, mostly due to a fall in incidents of unauthorised transactions and attempts to obtain personal or banking information online or by phone,” they confirm.
