Burglary figures down since 2016

668 burglaries took place in Co Louth last year, with one in five people having their house burgled, and 21% saying they know someone who has been burgled in the last 24 months

However, figures from the recent survey show Drogheda, Ardee and Dundalk areas are bucking the national trend, with a decrease of almost 10% in the number of incidences of burglary - from 734 in 2016 to 668 in 2017.

This comes just weeks after the CSO have released their updated crime statistics for 2017 – revealing a 3.3% increase in burglaries nationwide, from 18,478 in 2016 to 19,092 in 2017.

The survey of 400 homeowners, by online home insurance broker www.insuremyhouse. ie, also showed there were 546 domestic fires in the county, but overall, Irish people take a very pro-active approach to minding themselves and their properties.

Out of all the people asked, 89% of people have checked their smoke alarm in the last few months - suggesting that many have a genuine fear of a fire in their home, while 78% reported that they have never allowed their home insurance cover to lapse.

“It’s very encouraging to see how vigilant people are regarding smoke alarms, because the threat of fire in the home is always there and can have devastating repercussions,” says Deirdre McCarthy of Insuremyhouse.ie speaking of the findings.