Repeat burglars have ‘profound impact' on Cork communities

Concern has been expressed at the prevalence of repeat offenders committing burglaries across Cork, with almost 1,300 offences across the county in the last six years alone.

Figures from the Irish Courts Service show that between January 1, 2020, and September 30, 2025, the latest date for which data is available, there were 1,271 burglary offences in Cork courts, involving 933 people.

This includes 993 offences in Cork city, 141 in Mallow, and 137 in Clonakilty district courts. However, the number of people implicated in these cases is smaller, with 701 in Cork city, 117 in Mallow, and 115 in Clonakilty.

In total, 1,021 burglary offences were dealt with at district court level, while 250 were sent forward to the circuit court for trial.

The figures were provided to Ireland South MEP and former barrister Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, who said the difference between the number of offences and number of perpetrators “highlights a high level of repeat or multiple offending”.

Data

The data shows an average of 1.39 offences per person for the 733 people who were dealt with in district courts and 1.25 per person for the 200 sent for trial at circuit court level.

“The figures point to a relatively small group of repeat offenders that are responsible for a disproportionate share of burglary offences,” she said.

The data includes 158 offences in the first nine months of 2025, 223 in the 12 months of 2024, 189 in 2023, 203 in 2022, 209 in 2021, and 289 in 2020.

Ms Ní Mhurchú reiterated Garda calls for people to refrain from posting holiday photographs on social media, as this advertises the fact that they are not at home

She also advised them to look out for any suspicious vehicles or activity on their neighbours’ property.

In the first nine months of 2025, 95 people in Cork city faced the local courts on 130 burglary charges, while 12 were in Clonakilty district court and 11 in Mallow.

Monthly averages show that 2025 saw a slight decrease in offences (from 18.5 in 2024 to 17.5) but a slight increase in people (from 12.5 to 13), suggesting a slight fall in repeat offending as well as burglaries.

Peak Time

Ms Ní Mhurchú pointed out that “the dark winter months are a peak time for the offence of burglary”, meaning that the figures for the last three months of 2025 could be higher than monthly averages for the previous nine months.

She has called on justice minister Jim O’Callaghan to “put forward a robust plan to tackle the small number of repeat burglars who are having a profound impact on communities”.

This should include an end to the practice of letting burglars out on temporary release from our prisons, she said, adding that nationally, 38 burglars were on temporary release as of June 23, 2025, according to figures provided by the Irish Prison Service.

It comes as public representatives have expressed concern at people being let out of prison due to overcrowding in the prison system.

Yesterday, there were 404 people in Cork Prison, which has space for 296 inmates, representing 136% capacity, the highest of any men’s prison in Ireland.

Ms Ní Murchú said a doubling of funding under the community safety fund, which redirects the proceeds of crime back to communities, more funding for community CCTV, and the expansion of grant aid schemes for security alarms in the homes of older people would also help protect homes.