Gun attacks in the Republic have plummeted to record lows and are now happening so rarely that a specific figure for the number of attacks does not register in official data for last year.
In reply to queries from The Irish Times, the Health Service Executive said because the number of people wounded in “gun assaults” last year was five or lower, it would not supply a specific figure. This was intended to safeguard the privacy of those treated after being wounded.
The five or fewer gun assault victims treated in the Republic’s hospitals in 2024 compares with the peak of 59 such cases in 2005, a reduction of at least 90 cent. There were 10, 13 and nine cases during the previous three years, 25 in 2019 and 31 gun attacks with wounding in 2010.
Garda sources said during the Kinahan-Hutch feud the force had also begun using legislation to degrade the structure of drug gangs in a manner usually reserved for terrorist groups. This included prosecuting people involved in every level of organised crime, from directing a crime gang to buying €20 top-ups on untraceable burner phones used by more senior members. This was done to degrade gangs from the leadership ranks down to very minor figures, the Garda sources said.
The HSE figures relate only to people who sustained wounds in gun attacks, rather than those accidentally wounded in incidents with legally held guns. The data does not include those people who died after being shot in gun attacks.
However, there were only two fatal shootings in the Republic last year and only one of those – the killing of Josh Itseli (20), Drimnagh, south Dublin, in April – was linked to gangland crime. That compares with close to 20 gangland gun killings annually, at times more, during the Celtic Tiger era.
As well as “gun assaults” plummeting, gun crime generally was very low last year in a 20-year context. The number of ‘possession of a firearm’ crimes recorded last year was 183, down from the peak of 452 in 2008. The number of illegal ‘discharge of a firearm’ cases was 108, down from a peak of 331 in 2007.
The fall in gun attacks, gangland murders and other gun crimes comes in the wake of the major Garda drive against drugs gangs following the outbreak of the Kinahan-Hutch feud in 2015-2016.
In reply to queries about lower levels of gun crime, Garda Headquarters cited the creation of the Garda drugs and organised crime bureau in 2016.
The bureau – along with the emergency response unit and regional armed support units – “has increased operational capacity and capability to target gun crime”. A “greater intelligence and analysis capacity, monitoring of online and dark web activity” had also resulted in more effective operations against armed criminals.
