Kerry’s drug-related crimes drop significantly over three-year period

By Alastair Tibbs, The Kerryman

Drug related crimes have dropped significantly in Kerry in the last few years according to data released by the Central Statistics Office.

Since 2022, the number of offences relating to the possession of drugs for personal use have diminished by over one-third to 316, while controlled drug offences have also seen a similar drop.

Possession of drugs for sale or supply is down by 10 per cent in the same period, with 81 recorded offences in 2022 reducing to 73 in 2024.

Councillor Terry O’Brien welcomed the news but emphasised there was still work to be done.

“Its great to hear, I want to complement the Gardaí and their efforts but we know there is a major problem out there. Any improvement is welcome but everyone must play their part,” said Cllr O’Brien.

He highlighted the ‘See Something, Say Something’ campaign for which Kerry was the first nationwide to see its rollout in 2018.

The initiative allows any member of the public to report anti-social or suspicious behaviour via text message by texting the name of their town or village followed by the information to 50555.

It is currently rolled out in Tralee, Killarney, Listowel and Dingle.

“I can’t encourage people enough to pick up the phone because the Gardai are very responsive now and they’ll always take their call and do their best to act on it,” said Cllr O’Brien.

“News like this is good news and we’ve got to embrace that because there’s a lot of bad news all over the place. So it’s a positive but we can’t take our eyes off it.”