It’s official – Limerick is the murder capital of Europe!!
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The Sunday Independent reports that the latest killings in Limerick have raised the city’s crime figures to such an extent that it now has the highest murder rate in Western Europe.
Central Statistics Office data states that Limerick has a ratio of more than 7 murders per 100,000 population.
Glasgow in Scotland previously had the highest murder rate in Western Europe. It recorded just over 5 killings per 100,000 people.
It appears that Gardaí are seizing more than 500 guns a year countrywide (10 times more than they recovered from republicans during the Troubles).
Operation Anvil, set up by the Gardaí in May 2005, has recovered almost 1,500 firearms to date with most of these being seized in Dublin.
If Gardaí know who is involved (and it appears they do), why can’t they do something about it? Why don’t they do something about it?
Violent crime is rampant throughout the country (not just Limerick and Dublin) …. drug related offences are occurring in all our towns and villages …. we all know who’s involved …. so why isn’t a harder line being taken?
In my own local town the dogs on the street know who’s involved in drug dealing. Some of these people are the nicest guys you’d meet. They have profited quite quickly from the sale of drugs and then they moved on to legitimate business ventures.
Many of them have built houses, bought shops and have become involved in other businesses. They also have a multitude of rental property scattered throughout the town. Their initial illgotten gains have set them up quite comfortably for the rest of their lives.
The government needs to take a much firmer stance against these people.
The only way to get them is through their money. The only place you’ll hurt these people is in their pockets.
If a person can’t prove the legitimacy of their earnings then take it away.
Simple as that!
Sorry – IE 8 – never...
Grandad? never f”!i** mind...
[...] muder capital of Europe and an underground shooting range ….. now that’s more than a little [...]
This article is a reflection of the usual non-existant standards of journalism in the Sunday Independent.
The headline claims that Limerick is the murder capital of Europe. The article says no such thing. It claims, on the basis of a very flawed statistical analysis (see below), that Limerick has overtaken Glasgow as the murder capital of “Western” Europe. Of course it doesn’t bother to say what exactly constitutes “Western” Europe.
The fact is that even on the basis of these flawed statistics neither Limerick nor Glasgow has the highest murder rate in Europe. That dubious honour used to belong to Corleone and has now been taken by Naples, with Moscow not far behind. The cities such as Talinn, Riga and Constantia would complete a top 5 that does not include a single Irish or Scottish city.
Why are the statistics flawed – the clue is in the article. The CSO do not record the number of people murdered each year (there is no – “were you murdered since the last census?” box to tick on the form). The Gardai do that. The CSO records where people live. What the Sunday Independent has done is taken the crime figures for the Limerick Garda division and divided them by the CSO figures for the population of Limerick city. Nothing wrong with that you might think. Except that the city of Limerick is split between three local authorities. According to the CSO Limerick has a population of just 52,000 people. The real population of the city ans its suburbs is 110,000. The Gardai sensibly disregarded these boundaries and established a Garda division that includes the entire city and suburbs as well as parts of county Limerick and County Clare. The population of the Garda division of Limerick is more than twice the census figure for Limerick city. in other words the Sunday Independent just doubled Limerick’s crime rate – thanks guys.
Crime is a serious problem and needs to be tackled, but this sort of ridiculous over the top journalism just serves to glorify the petty little thugs responsbile. They should be cowering in fear of the gardai and the agents of the state, not thinking they’ve replaced the Sicilian and Russian mafias as the real hard men of Europe – what a load of rubbish
I guess Limerick was an easy target (forgive the pun).
My personal experience of the Press is that all they report should be taken with a large dose of salt.
The Press are self-satisfying ….. bad news/gripping news sells. The bottom line is what counts.
And don’t we all love bad news …. as long as the other guy is faring out worse than us we can say that we’re doing ok.
Paddy, it troubles me that you are so excited about this news! Is there a reason for this?
None … I’m not excited about the news.
I don’t have a personal vendetta against Limerick. Limerick may not deserve the above title and Limerick may or may not be any better or worse than any of our other cities including Cork and Dublin … it’s just the way Limerick gets portrayed and then to cap it all …. it’s the way Limerick reacts to that portrayal.
We have more of that portrayal today (and I quote):
I’m sure the same happens in Cork, Dublin etc. ……. but it seems that Limerick is always the one to be seen to be in the midst of trouble.
Again, I reiterate, I spent three happy years in Limerick, loved the city, worked in some of the ‘nmore difficult’ areas in the city and loved every minute of my time there.
Had I got a job there …. I would have stayed there.
Hi Paddy, I am not sure how your previous posting relates to Limerick being the murder Capital!
Seems like Cork is always in the middle of it with Bombs, stabbings and shootings!
A man has been wounded in a gun attack in Cork.
Shots were fired through the window of a house in the Knocknaheeny area of the city at around 9pm last night.
The man, who is in his 30s and from Togher, was wounded in the shoulder and stomach and is in a critical but stable condition at Cork University Hospital.
AdvertisementHis girlfriend and two children, aged six and three, witnessed the attack.
Gardaí believe that the gunman was armed with a handgun and that he made his getaway in a waiting car driven by another man.
A Mercedes found burned out near Monard midway between Cork city and Blarney may have been used by the gunman and his accomplice.
Garda technical experts will today carry out a forensic examination of the vehicle.
Gardaí also cordoned off the house at Kilmore Road and technical experts began a forensic examination of the scene late last night.
They have begun door to door inquiries in the area to see if anyone saw anything suspicious near the scene.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Gurranabraher Garda Station on 021-4946200.
Indeed we can keep up with the best of them!
(although keeping up with Limerick’s reputation could be quite a challenge!)
We do, however, only burn out the best of cars …. only Mercedes are good enough to burn out in Cork!
I must change the Fiat Punto into a Mercedes!