Residential burglaries during the winter fell by more than half over the past four years because of a specialist Garda operation put in place to target mobile criminals.
Operation Thor was set up to target gangs using the motorways to travel to rural areas to commit burglaries and armed robberies during reduced hours of daylight.
The officer in charge insists, however, that the Garda is particularly aware of the vulnerability of older people and determined to apprehend those involved in targeting them.
Assistant Commissioner John O'Driscoll said the reduction in burglaries in Ireland is contrary to the trend internationally.
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More than 12,000 homes were robbed during the winter months four years ago, according to provisional CSO figures.
Last winter this dropped by more than half to just under 6,000.
Gardaí say known gangs and criminals in high powered cars were identified and intercepted, Garda case mangers were used to oversee repeat offenders and bail legislation was utilised.
Checkpoints also provided a visible deterrent with over 73,000 last winter.
Assistant Commissioner O'Driscoll described the figures as encouraging.
Meanwhile, the chairman of Ardrahan Community Alert in south Galway has said there has been a decline in the levels of rural crime in the area.
Michael Kelly is a sheep farmer outside the village of Ardrahan which is just off the M17/M18 motorway and he says local people were in fear of crime gangs from other parts of the country gaining easy access to rural dwellings.
However, the combination of community vigilance and close cooperation with gardaí in Gort has proven to be an effective deterrent.
If suspicious activity is noted, a call is made to gardaí who decide whether to activate the text alert system. Once the alarm is raised up to 600 people are notified within a matter of minutes.
Michael Kelly says the presence of a local garda and along with signposts and text alerts, has created a "culture of feeling protected and given the rural community peace of mind".
