Cork city sees drop in number of arrests for sexual assault  

There have been 253 arrests for sexual assault in Cork in the last five years, with Cork city seeing its lowest figures in that time last year.

New Garda data broken down by division shows that across Cork, there were 57 arrests in 2020, 61 in 2021, 48 in 2022, 45 in 2023, and 42 in 2024, the most recent year for which data is available.

In Cork city, there were a total of 108 sexual assault arrests; 26 in 2020, 28 in 2021, 19 in 2022, 20 in 2023, and just 15 last year. Cork county had a total of 145 arrests. There were 31 in 2020, 33 in 2021, 29 in 2022, 25 in 2023, and 27 in 2024.

Nationally, Cork county had the seventh-highest amount of arrests out of the 21 Garda divisions, with Wexford/Wicklow having the highest total, followed by Waterford/Kilkenny. Cork city placed 13th in the table, with Sligo/Leitrim having the fewest arrests.

Under reporting

Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan, who revealed the data via parliamentary question recently, said “historically there has been significant under-reporting” of sexual assault and similar crimes.

He said: “My department is continuing to work with agencies to strengthen trust in the criminal justice system, so that victims can feel confident to come forward and report what happened to them.”

Divisional protective service units, now in place in every Garda division in Ireland, “ensure that when victims of crimes such as domestic abuse and sexual violence present to gardaí, they are met with a consistently high standard of specialist, sensitive, professional and expert assistance”, he said.

“I want to reassure anyone who is subject to, or at risk of, domestic or sexual abuse that practical help is always available.”