Thirty-five people were before the courts in Donegal for burglary offences in the first nine months of 2025.
Nineteen people appeared before Letterkenny District Court on burglary offences between January to September of 2025, while nine were before Letterkenny Circuit Court in the same timeframe.
Five people appeared before Donegal District Court and two before Donegal Circuit Court on burglary offences in the first nine months of last year, according to figures provided to Ireland South MEP and former barrister Cynthia Ní Mhurchú from the Irish Courts Service.
1,187 people were before the district courts across Ireland for burglary offences in the same timeframe.
The figures point to a relatively small group of repeat offenders that are responsible for a disproportionate share of burglary offences. In the first nine months of 2025, 1,771 burglary cases came before the District Court, involving just 1,187 individuals — highlighting a high level of repeat or multiple offending. A similar pattern emerged in the Circuit Court, where 729 burglary cases were tried over the same period, committed by just 529 offenders.
Dublin tops the table when it comes to burglary figures with 622 people coming before the district and circuit courts there for burglary in the first nine months of last year. Dublin is quickly followed by Cork and Limerick. Clonmel has a surprisingly high rate of burglary and Waterford, Naas, Mullingar, Wexford, Tralee and Bray also make the top 10 when it comes to number of people before the local courts for burglary. Castlebar, Carrick-on-Shannon and Ballina are some of the local courts with the lowest number of people before them for burglary pointing to either low burglary rates, or low Garda detection rates.
Ní Mhurchú has reiterated Garda calls on people to stop posting holiday pictures on social media, which advertise that they are not at home and also to look out for any suspicious vehicles or activity on their neighbours property – in particular in very rural parts of the country during the dark winter months – a peak time for the offence of burglary.
Ní Mhurchú has called for a range of measure to tackle burglary including an end to the practice of letting burglars out on temporary release from our prisons. 38 burglars were on temporary release as of the 23rd of June 2025, according to figures provided by the Irish Prison Service. She has also called for more targeted community supports to protect communities against burglary including a doubling of funding under the Community Safety fund, more funding for community CCTV and consideration to be given to expanding grant aid schemes for security alarms to be installed in the homes of older people, in particular those who are living alone in rural Ireland. The Seniors Alert Scheme provides grant support for the supply of personal alarm equipment but not house alarms.
The Community Safety Fund allows for the proceeds of crime, seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) and An Garda Síochána, to be directed back into communities, in order to fund innovative local projects aimed at building stronger, safer communities. According to Ní Mhurchú, community leaders that she interacts with don’t know about the fund.
The €4 million funding works within communities to provide funding for things like diversion programmes for repeat and young offenders, drug awareness programmes, and restorative justice initiatives. There is also a stream of funding for community CCTV projects and Community alert support programmes.
Ní Mhurchú has asked the Department of Justice to inform community groups of the 2026 funding allocation, consider doubling it and advise politicians and community leaders when the funding call opens for applications.
Ní Mhurchú cited the winter months and dark evenings as being peak time for burglars committing offences and has called on 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 – in particular rural communities – across Ireland.
Figures for the number of persons who came before the courts for burglary in the first 9 months of 2025 (January to September) broken down by district court office. Provided by the Irish Courts Service.
