Domestic abuse reports to Donegal Gardai have soared by 76% in five years

The number of domestic abuse calls to gardaí in Donegal has soared by 76% since 2020, with a total of 8,963 calls recorded in the last five years, new Garda data shows.

Across the county, calls rose from 1,204 in 2020 to 2,115 in 2024 (the latest year for which there are complete figures), an increase of 76%. 

Nationally, there was a smaller increase of 45%. In 2020, gardaí received 44,782 domestic abuse calls, which included breaches of protection and barring orders imposed by the courts, and other incidents such as assault, which had a domestic motive.

That figure has steadily risen over the past five years, with a total of 65,224 domestic abuse calls made to gardaí in 2024 – representing a 45pc increase on 2020 and more than 20,000 extra calls.

In Donegal, there have been a total of  8,963 domestic violence calls since 2020. There were 1,204 calls in 2020, 1,344 in 2021, 1,584 in 2022, 1,901 in 2023, 2,115 in 2024, and 815 in 2025 to June 3. 

The figures for 2025 show a monthly average of 163 calls, which, if continued, would result in a slight decrease to 1,956 this year. The monthly average increased from 100 in 2020 to 163 this year.

The number of domestic abuse calls was released by the Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan in response to a parliamentary question by Aontú party leader TD Peadar Tóibín.

The Justice Minister has said that, while any increase in reports of domestic violence “is deeply concerning”, he added that significant work has been undertaken to support victims to come forward.

Mr O’Callaghan said that “combating all forms of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is a central priority” for him and the Government.

He added that the Government has a zero-tolerance strategy to “encourage victims of domestic and sexual violence come forward and report the heinous crimes being committed against them” in order to address “the historical and significant under-reporting of such crimes”.

Since 2019, gardaí have also secured 52 prosecutions nationally for coercive control, while from November 2023, a total of 67 people have been prosecuted for non-fatal strangulations, 58 of which relate to domestic abuse.

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The number of domestic violence victims accessing support from Lifeline Inishowen is even more startling, with that figure rising by 95% between 2020 and 2023. 

Mary Doherty, Coordinator at Lifeline Inishowen, described the numbers reporting domestic abuse as “not surprising”.

“We've seen the figures rising over the years, but I think there's more awareness out there. I'm not surprised, because domestic abuse has been happening forever; it's nothing new. We have people from their 20s up to their 80s who attend the service.”

The number of people contacting the domestic violence charity helpline for support since 2020 increased from 118 in 2020 to 230 in 2023.