The Central Statistics Office has released information on recorded crimes for the first quarter of the year.
While reported crime is down overall in Cork City and the nation as a whole, the number of drug offences recorded in the first quarter of 2021 has doubled in comparison to the same period of the previous year.
Cork City Garda Division recorded 287 drug offences in the first three months of 2020. For the same period of 2021, that figure has almost doubled with 567 offences recorded.
The figure includes 431 counts of possession of drugs for personal use, almost double the figure of 218 in the same period of 2020.
In general, crime figures have shown a decline in recorded offences in the city. There were 430 public order offences in the first quarter of 2021, compared to 467 in the first three months of 2020.
In the first quarter of 2020, there were 347 recorded thefts from shops. This has fallen sharply to 200 this year.
Only one theft from a person was recorded in the first three months of this year, compared to seven in the same period of 2020.
Sexual offences have declined from 43 to 39.
There were no homicides or murders in the first quarter of this year, compared to three homicides and one murder recorded in 2020.
The overall decline in crime is believed to be a result of the strict lockdown the country found itself under in the first quarter of this year.