BY SARAH CANTY
RECORDED incidents of domestic violence in West Cork have increased steadily from 341 in 2014 to 611 in 2023 – with 139 recorded in the first quarter of 2024, according to An Garda Síochána.
These are the results of a search of the Pulse database, which was conducted last month to identify any incidents recorded with a motive of domestic abuse including breach of barring order, breach of protection orders, breach of safety order, or domestic dispute.
Aontú’s Becky Kealy, a candidate for Cork North West, in the upcoming general election, said her party had been given the statistics following a parliamentary question from party leader Peadar Tóibín.
‘It’s not just in my constituency, as the number of domestic abuse incidents has increased from 14,264 in 2014 to a shocking 46, 539 throughout the country last year,’ she said. ‘Sadly, this dark trend is continuing this year.’
Ms Kealy here are now 128 garda call-outs for domestic abuse incidents every day of the year. Behind every one of these figures, is a person being damaged, in what should be, the sanctuary of their own home. In the vast majority of cases, this abuse is being carried out against women.
‘We have to be mindful that the figures are probably just the tip of the iceberg as they are the ones that have been reported, we have no idea what horrors are going unreported. ‘
In a statement Ms Kealy placed blame on the proliferation of porn websites to which children are able to gain access. ‘The government is refusing to tackle the proliferation of hard-core porn being consumed by children. More than one in every three pornographic videos depicts sexual violence or aggression against women and children as young as ten are consuming this material every day.’
She also pointed to the lack of resources to address issues of violence and mental health.
‘There is a lack of resources to provide interventions to stop children witnessing domestic abuse, so they are not conditioned to repeat physical or psychological violence in their own lives.
‘Our mental health services only receive 6% of the overall health budget and chronic underfunding is having a serious impact. The housing crisis and the lack of safe rental move-on options also add to the pressure,’ Ms Kealy added.
