'It’s gone completely out of hand': Cork shop owner concerned over rise in thefts 

The owner of a number of convenience stores in Cork city centre has described current efforts to counter a growth of shoplifting as “fighting a losing battle”, telling The Echo that €250 worth of alcohol was being stolen every week from his Patrick St store, despite investing €250,000 in security annually.

Kevin Herlihy, who owns a number of Centra shops, was speaking to after figures released by the Central Statistics Office showing a significant increase in the number of shoplifting offences in Cork between 2003 and 2024 were highlighted by Fianna Fáil MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú as she called for tougher sentences for offenders.

There were 1,440 recorded incidents of shoplifting in the Cork city garda division in 2003. This rose to 2,682 recorded incidents of shoplifting in Cork city in 2024, an increase of 86%.

Cork city saw a 26.7% increase in shoplifting between 2023 and 2024 alone.

Mr Herlihy has said these figures reflect what his city centre shops are experiencing.

“It’s gone completely out of hand, it’s just crazy — the last year or two years, it’s mad,” he said.

“We are spending a quarter of a million euro a year now on security in our city centre stores,” Mr Herlihy said.

“We have security there seven nights a week in most of the stores. We have to, for the safety of our staff.

“I have about 100 people working for me inside in the stores and, to be fair to them, they’re very vigilant and they’re very good.

“We’re trying our best to alleviate the situation, but unfortunately we’re fighting a losing battle because they get caught, they get arrested, they get put in jail and they’re out in a few hours and they’re back doing it again.

“It’s very disheartening and utterly demotivating for me and my staff when we see that happening.”

Elsewhere in Cork, in the North Cork garda division, there were 207 recorded incidents of shoplifting in 2003.

This figure rose by 129% to 474 recorded incidents in the division by 2024.

The number of shoplifting incidents remained fairly steady between 2023 and 2024 in North Cork, only ing an increase of 0.6% year-on-year.

According to the new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), there were 88 recorded incidents of shoplifting in the West Cork garda division in 2003.

This rose to 144 recorded incidents of shoplifting in West Cork by 2024, an increase of 64%.

The CSO recorded a 10.5% decrease in shoplifting offences in the West Cork garda division between 2023 and 2024.

Amongst the measures Ms Ní Mhurchú is calling for to address the issue of shoplifting is for the Government to introduce the Retail Crime Strategy mentioned in the programme for government.

She is also calling for a number of other measures such as mandatory prison sentences for people who have been caught shoplifting on more than one occasion.

The Ireland South MEP also said that the practice of retail defamation should be ended. This would mean that people stopped by a retail worker on suspicion of shoplifting could not be sued as long as the retail worker had a bona fide suspicion that theft had taken place.

The MEP said that retailers had told her they were sick of what they called the “revolving door justice system for shoplifters”.

The CSO shoplifting figures indicate a dramatic trend upwards in shoplifting offences across most counties in Ireland.

Some of the biggest jumps in the year between 2003 and 2024 occurred in countries including Tipperary, Wexford, Wicklow, Kildare, and Limerick.

The MEP praised the gardaí in West Cork and other divisions where there had been a reduction in recorded incidents of shoplifting between 2023 and 2024, attributing this to more focused garda actions of late.