Crime and safety in rural Ireland

Research conducted on farm crime is limited in Ireland. This is problematic not just from the perspective of identifying crime trends and patterns, but also from better understanding the fear of crime and its impact on individuals and the wider farming community. In order to better understand crimes committed against Irish farms and the measures taken to prevent victimisation, a voluntary, anonymous survey of Irish farmers was conducted via SurveyMonkey between July and November 2022. In total, 1,333 valid responses were achieved. Just over half of participants had been a victim of theft from their farm. The underreporting of certain offences was noted and while farmers show support and take responsibility for certain crime prevention actions, these measures are not widely practiced.