75% in favour of community text alert

on 26/09/2012 00:00:00

More than one in four of the 5,200 people polled said they would go a step further and set up a text-based system in their area.

The survey, carried out by AA Ireland Home Insurance, found that 65% of people would be somewhat or very likely to join a neighbourhood watch group.

However, there was apathy on the issue of actually initiating a neighbourhood watch group, with just 10% saying they would give it serious consideration. Some felt they would be perceived as the local busybody if they established such a group.

There was little difference between counties in terms of interest in the text alert system - 72% of those living in Cork and 78% of those living in Wexford said they would be interested, for example.

Anecdotal feedback from the poll revealed interest in community crime prevention measures has increased as a result of a recent spate of burglaries.

According to the CSO, reported burglaries and related crimes increased by 20% during the first quarter of 2012 compared to the same time last year, a 30% increase.

AA Ireland director of consumer affairs Conor Faughnan said a number of text-based systems were being piloted by gardaí and that there had been some success.

"There seems to be good potential for the initiative in certain areas and people are genuinely interested to learn more about it," he said.