Four in ten people say they don’t feel safe in Dublin city during the daytime. according to the new City Centre Crime Victim Survey commissioned by The Dublin Inquirer.
The survey, carried out by Amarách Research, was published on Thursday. The survey includes responses from 600 people, aged 18 and over, who visit or live in the area.
Most of those asked said they believe crime in Dublin has gotten worse; with two thirds saying that they will not come into the city centre over safety fears. However, most said that they had not witnessed crimes.
Seven in ten of those who took part in the research said they believed crime in Dublin city centre had risen in the past year.
63% said they’d decided not to visit town because they feel it’s too unsafe.
75% of respondents hadn’t experienced violence or threats of violence in the last 12 months – however only 42% said they feel safe walking alone in the city during the day.
The Dublin Inquirer reports that twelve percent of respondents (72) indicated that they’d fallen victim to some form of theft in the city centre in the 12 months up to September.
Meanwhile 9 percent (54) of people said that they had been threatened in a public place, and 3 percent (17) said that they had been threatened with a weapon.
Two percent (13) said that they had been “deliberately hit with fists or kicked”, and 1 percent (6) said that they had been injured with a weapon. 19 percent (116) said that they had been insulted or verbally abused while in a public place – such as the street, public transport, a bar or cafe.
Eoin Glackin from the Dublin Inquirer, which commissioned the survey, admitted he was surprised by the number of people, particularly 18 to 24 year olds, who said they actively avoid the city:
“What that means for the city is obviously, we’re missing out on business. Our shops, our restaurants, our nightlife, our pubs,” he told 98fm.
The survey was carried out online over a week in September, and has a margin of error of 3.9 percent, Amarách said.
In October, An Garda Siochana said in a press release that there had been changes in reported crimes in the capital as a result of a high-visibility policing initiative, and what it describes as targeted operations.
Pop-up clinics in Dublin’s docklands are part of the new initiative. The force said that during the period from 22nd March to 22nd September 2025, there have been increased Proactive Policing Detections for Public Order Offences (+18%), Drunkenness Offences (+67%) , Drugs for Sale or Supply (+3%), and Drugs for Simple Possession +(30%).