Massive jump in recorded rapes and sexual assaults in Kildare over last 20 years
Image for illustration purposes
ACCORDING to figures released by the CSO the number of convictions for rape and sexual assault recorded across Kildare rose from 53 in 2003 to 124 in 2024.
These figures show a shocking 134% increase in two decades.
Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurcú, a former family law barrister, called these figures a “wakeup call to action” and added that “it is clear we are dealing with an epidemic of violence against women”.
The Ireland South MEP is calling for a complete review of sexual violence sentencing in the country as a whole, as well as other important measures.
Further figures released by the Irish Prison Service show that as of May 31, 2025, there were 800 sexual offenders in Irish prisons costing the state almost €80m annually to house, which is 16% more than May 31 of 2024 when 692 sexual offenders were in jail in the Irish prison system.
According to Miss Ní Mhurchú, these figures raise concerns about the Irish prison system’s ability to rehabilitate sexual offenders. She also brought attention to the €80m spend every year to house sex offenders without adequate treatment.
Ní Mhurchú added that in August of 2024, just eight sex offenders were participating in the Building Better Lives programme, an Irish prison service treatment programme for sex offenders.
However, only six sex offenders completed the programme before it was eventually cancelled in October of 2024, which was eventually replaced with a new model of intervention called New Chapters.
MEP Ní Mhurcú has requested a meeting with Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan, to discuss this crisis and what Ní Mhurcú called the “dramatic rise in violence against women.
She is calling for a nationwide review of sentencing for violent crimes against women, advanced training for circuit and district court judges for these cases, more consultation rooms for victims in Irish courts and a more victim-centred approach, a thorough investigation into the dramatic increases in these crimes, and more focused measures to rehabilitate sexual offenders in prison.
