Thefts from shops in Cork city were up by 78% in the first two months of the year compared to the same period in 2022, prompting calls for an increased garda presence in the city centre during daytime hours.

Chief Superintendent Tom Myers told a meeting of the Cork City Joint Policing Committee (JPC) yesterday that gardaí are actively working to crack down on the issue.

“Theft from shops now is something that is seriously up for us,” he said. 

“We’re working very closely with community guards of the city centre policing unit and the Cork Business Association (CBA) trying to tackle persistent offenders in relation to theft from shops.”

CBA business and communications manager Helen Murphy told the meeting that the sharp increase in shoplifting incidents “clearly shows that there is a problem with policing the city centre during the daytime hours”.

Ms Murphy said an increased garda presence on the streets during retail hours over the Christmas period “made a huge difference” and that the CBA would “love to get that type of presence back again”.

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin councillor Mick Nugent made a renewed appeal for a garda station to be set up on Grand Parade to enable gardaí to have a “fixed presence” in the heart of the city centre.

Chief Supt Myers said while there is a dedicated city centre policing unit, recruitment and retention are issues An Garda Síochána is facing nationally.

“Our city centre policing unit are active enough in the city centre and our community guards are quite good,” he said.

“There’s no hiding from it, we have an issue about recruitment into An Garda Síochána and it’s been well documented in the last couple of weeks… we can’t get people in fast enough into the garda college.

“We have an issue in the organisation now that we never had before about retention because there are people coming into the guards and deciding it’s not for them and moving on.

“We’re just not getting them in fast enough to the organisation, and that’s a national problem.”

Chief Supt Myers said he would like to see more gardaí allocated to Cork city as resources are particularly stretched in the daytime.

“We’re quite good on the night shifts in relation to presence but what’s really killing us is during the day,” he said.

“The courts are jammed, the prisons are jammed.”

Speaking in relation to theft from shops, Fine Gael councillor Joe Kavanagh said businesses had a responsibility to take measures to protect themselves against theft, with gardaí in place to follow up when required.

However, Ms Murphy told the meeting that many CBA members are finding it difficult to hire private security staff both because of a lack of available personnel and because of the cost of the service.

Overall property crime was up by 61% in the first two months of 2023, with incidents of interfering with a vehicle with the intent of stealing the vehicle or an item up 209% and bicycle theft up 81%.

However, there was a significant decrease in incidents of aggravated burglary.

There were also a number of offences which remained static in this category, including robbery of an establishment or institution and theft from a person.