Naas ranked sixth highest for number of burglars before the courts

MORE than 53 people came before courts in Naas on burglary charges in the first nine months of 2025, according to figures provided to Ireland South MEP and former barrister Cynthia Ní Mhurchú by the Irish Courts Service.

This makes Naas the sixth highest area in the country in a ranking of the number of burglaries per court area.

Naas had 41 people come before the district court, and a further 12 before the circuit court, and its total of 53 is literally just one case behind Waterford’s total. In fact, the only town to finish higher on this naughty list than Naas is the surprise of Clonmel in Co Tipperary, with all the others (Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford) being cities.

Naas actually finishes higher in the rankings than the cities of Galway (29) and Kilkenny (30), and well beyond the neighbouring districts of Portlaoise (37) and Carlow (32).

As expected, the capital leads this particular hit parade (with 622 burglary charges), a figure that is more than six times the figure for Cork (95) in second.

Unsurprisingly, the west of Ireland seems safest, with the bottom six places on the ranking list occupied by towns from the region, with Carrick-on-Shannon (2) and Castlebar (2) leading the envious way at the bottom of this ranking.

A total of 1,187 people were before the district courts across the entire state for burglary offences in the first nine months of 2025, while a further 347 people were sent forward for trial in the circuit court for burglary offences between January and September 2025. However, if there is to be any silver lining from these statistics, the figures point to a relatively small group of repeat offenders that are responsible for a disproportionate share of burglary offences.

To try and counter these figures, Gardaí are calling on people to stop posting holiday pictures on social media, which advertise that they are not at home. They also suggest looking 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.

Ms Ní Mhurchú has called for a range of measures to tackle burglary, including an end to the practice of letting burglars out on temporary release from our prisons. In all, 38 burglars were on temporary release as of 23 June 2025, according to the figures provided to her by the Irish Prison Service.

The MEP has also called for more targeted community supports to protect communities against burglary including a doubling of funding under the Community Safety Fund and more funding for community CCTV. The Community Safety Fund allows for the proceeds of crime, seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau and An Garda Síochána, to be directed back into communities to fund innovative local projects aimed at building stronger, safer communities.

Ms Ní Mhurchú also wants 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.