Home security in Cork: burglary figures, Garda alarm rules and installers

Quick answer: The CSO recorded 293 burglary and related offences in the Cork City Garda division in 2025, level with 292 in 2024 and below 313 in 2023, while the national figure fell 13.1%. Alarm and CCTV installers must hold a Private Security Authority licence; the PSA register lists 85 with a County Cork address. A local Cork installer’s 2026 guide puts alarm installation at €50 to €300 and monitoring at €25 to €50 a month.

Burglary in Cork: the official figures

The Central Statistics Office publishes recorded crime by Garda division. The Cork City division covers the city and its suburbs, including Ballincollig, Douglas, Blackrock and Mayfield; the rest of the county is policed by the Cork North and Cork West divisions.

Cork City division	2023	2024	2025
Burglary and related offences	313	292	293
of which burglary (not aggravated)	298	263	272
of which aggravated burglary	10	12	12

By Garda station area in 2025, the highest counts were Bridewell (50, up from 38), Anglesea Street (45, down from 65), Watercourse Road (36), Douglas (30, up from 13), Mayfield (23), Blackrock (21) and Bishopstown (16). Bridewell and Anglesea Street cover the city centre, where many incidents involve commercial premises. The Douglas rise is the change most relevant to suburban households, though counts this small move around from year to year.

How to read these figures: the CSO category “burglary and related offences” covers burglary of homes and of businesses, aggravated burglary and possession of an article with intent to burgle. The CSO publishes recorded crime “under reservation”, which means it has flagged quality concerns with the underlying Garda data, so treat small year-to-year changes with care. Nationally, the category fell from 9,747 incidents in 2024 to 8,469 in 2025, down 13.1%, and is about half the 16,751 recorded in 2019.

What the Gardaí say about alarms

The Garda crime prevention sheet on intruder alarms (HS4, August 2020) and the Garda policy on monitored intruder alarms set out how a Garda response works. The key points for a household:

Rule	What it means for you
Unique Reference Number (URN)	To guarantee a Garda response to a monitored alarm you need a URN issued by the Gardaí. It is only issued where the system meets approved standards, was fitted by an approved installer and is monitored by an approved monitoring company.
Standard	The Gardaí recommend alarms that meet European Standard EN 50131; meeting it (or the older Irish Standard IS 199) is one of the criteria for a Garda response.
Verification	The Garda policy is to respond to verified alarms: a second detector going off, or a check by camera or microphone. Personal attack (panic) alarms always get a response.
False alarms	Three false alarms in any rolling three-month period trigger a notice to the monitoring centre, and Garda response is withdrawn seven days later. Reinstatement normally needs at least three months free of false calls.
Keyholders	Gardaí need a keyholder to attend. The URN application asks for keyholders who can reach the property within 30 minutes, and a keyholder who fails to turn up means the activation is recorded as false.
Auto-diallers	An auto-dialler can call you and your keyholders, but it must not be programmed to call the Gardaí.

The Gardaí do not recommend any particular company and suggest getting at least three quotes. If you change broadband or phone provider, tell your monitoring centre so the alarm keeps signalling. Our guides to building a response chain and fixing repeat false alarms go further.

Home CCTV and video doorbells: the privacy rules

The Data Protection Commission’s guidance on domestic CCTV (updated May 2026) says a home camera or smart doorbell that only records inside the boundary of your own property, including your garden and driveway, falls under the household exemption and is not covered by data protection law. Once it captures identifiable people beyond that boundary, such as a public footpath, the road, a back lane or a neighbour’s house or garden, the exemption no longer applies and you take on the full duties of a data controller under the GDPR. This follows the EU Court of Justice’s Ryneš ruling (C-212/13). The DPC also advises against posting footage online, including of a suspected burglar, because that too makes you a data controller.

In practice: angle cameras at your own property, use the privacy zone feature to black out the footpath and neighbouring homes, and keep doorbell recording to your own door. See our guides to privacy zones and Garda requests for doorbell footage in Ireland.

Typical alarm and CCTV prices

There is no official Cork price survey, so start with the national ranges in our Ireland home security costs guide. HomePros’ 2026 guide puts a 2-camera CCTV system at €500 to €900 and a 4-camera system at €800 to €1,500, installed and including VAT. Irish alarm companies typically charge a one-off installation fee plus monthly monitoring, and HomeSecure says most monitored alarms work out at €1 to €1.60 or more a day. For Cork specifically, local installer Feale Security’s 2026 guide to Cork prices puts installation at €50 to €150 for a basic alarm, €100 to €300 for a smart alarm and €200 to €500 for systems with cameras, with monitoring at €25 to €50 a month. Compare at least two written quotes for the same equipment list and the same monitoring plan, and work out the total over the whole contract.

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How to choose an alarm installer in Cork

PSA licence. Under the Private Security Services Act 2004, any business that installs or maintains intruder alarms, CCTV or access control must hold a Private Security Authority contractor licence for that sector, and the PSA publishes a public register of licensed contractors. When we searched it on 29 September 2026, it listed 85 contractors with a County Cork address licensed for CCTV or intruder alarm installation, 71 of them for intruder alarms. Search the company name on the register and check the sector you need and the expiry date.
URN and monitoring. If you want a Garda response, ask whether the system and monitoring centre qualify for a Garda URN and how alarms are verified.
Standard. Ask for an EN 50131 system and the grade proposed, and get the equipment list in writing.
Contract terms. Minimum term, price rises, who owns the equipment and what it costs to leave early. Our monitoring contract comparison tool helps.
Camera set-up. Ask the installer to set up privacy zones so cameras stay within your boundary, as the DPC advises.

Alarm and CCTV installers in the Cork area

These independent businesses appear in public business listings for the Cork area and describe themselves as installing alarms, CCTV or both. We left out national alarm brands, lead-generation sites and addresses that look like private homes. We have not checked their work, prices or insurance, none of them has paid to appear, and you should confirm each one’s licence on the PSA register yourself.