By Brendan Carroll

The number of crimes committed in Galway City and County in the first three months of this year was down on the same time last year, new figures reveal.

There was a total of 3,925 breaches of the law recorded during the first quarter of 2024 – a reduction of 239 crimes, or 6%, compared with Quarter 1 of 2023.

However, the latest figures, published by the Central Statistics Office, show that crime levels are up in Galway compared with the opening months of other years.

This year showed a 3% increase on the levels of crime recorded in 2022, and a substantially greater increase of more than one-third, or 36%, on the first quarter of 2021 – though restrictions on movement imposed by the Government early that year contributed to low levels of crime then.

This year’s crime levels throughout Galway are also above numbers recorded in the first quarter of the years 2016-2020.

However, current crime is below the levels seen in every other previous year, stretching back to 2003, the data released by the CSO shows – in many cases substantially lower.

Theft and related offences were among the main crimes detected, amounting to more than 1,200 during the first three months of 2024, along with more than 600 public order-type offences and more than 500 assaults, attempts or threats to murder and related offences.

There was a notable reduction compared with last year in the number of sex offences (down 34% to 80), drugs-related offences (down 37% to 216) and burglaries (down 22% to 204).

Meanwhile, the CSO has also released recorded crime statistics for each Garda station in Galway City and County for the whole of last year.

Unsurprisingly, the city’s main Garda station was by far the busiest, recording a total of more than 4,000 crimes throughout last year – close to half of the total figure for the Galway Garda Division of almost 8,700.

This represented a small reduction in crime compared with 2022, but an increase on the two years before that. Almost 1,500 of last year’s crimes in the city were theft and related offences, with public order offences the next biggest category, at just over 800.

Pictured: Mill Street Garda Station: busiest by far.