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Hate crimes and other hate related incidents increased in Galway last year according to newly released Garda figures.
There were a total of 22 hate crime and non-criminal hate related incidents reported in the Galway Garda Division last year, up from 17 in 2021.
There were no serious assaults motivated by hate in Galway among these figures, but the statistics do include incidents of murder threats, minor assaults, criminal damage, menacing calls, and public order offences.
A specific breakdown of how many of each of these offences occurred in Galway was not made available.
Half of the offences in Galway motivated by racism, but hate crimes were also reported based on age, disability, gender, religion, sexual orientation, nationality, or ethnicity.
Assistant Commissioner Paula Hilman, whose remit includes the Garda National Diversity and Integration Unit, welcomed the publication of the 2022 statistics.
“An Garda Síochána continues to have a strong focus on investigating crimes with a hate motive and supporting the victims of these crimes.”
“An Garda Síochána recognises that hate crimes have a huge impact on victims, specifically because they are targeted because of a characteristic of who they are. These crimes also have a significant impact on wider communities and society”.
Hate crimes and non-criminal hate related incidents rose by 29% as a whole nationwide last year.
There were 582 incidents recorded in 2022, comprising 510 hate crimes and 72 hate related non-criminal incidents. This is up from 448 hate crimes and 59 non-criminal incidents the previous year.
The most prevalent discriminatory motive was race (32%), followed by Sexual Orientation (22%) and Nationality (21%).
Hate motives were evident in a range of incidents in 2022, the largest percentage being Public Order (30%), Minor Assaults (20%), Assault causing Harm (9%) and Criminal Damage (8%).
The largest proportion of hate related incidents (47%) reported in 2022 occurred in the Dublin Metropolitan Region.
Across the other three operational regions there are quite similar proportions of incidents evident – Southern Region (15%), North-Western Region (20%) Eastern Region (18%).
Assistant Commissioner Hilman added ”These statistics of incidents reported to An Garda Síochána in 2022 with a hate motive build on the baseline figures published for 2021.”
“The level of reporting has increased overall. While it is disappointing that any incidents occur which have a hate related motive, it is positive to see more victims coming forward to An Garda Síochána and reporting their experiences.”
During 2022 An Garda Síochána implemented a Hate Crime ELearning Programme developed in conjunction with NGOs. This programme has been completed by 83.2% of all Garda members.
