As politicians criss-crossed the country to discuss their plans for government, crime was a key issue in the spotlight, with several parties announcing their policies for tackling the problem.
Talbot Street, in Dublin's north inner city, has been the centre of a number of high-profile, violent crimes in recent years.
Michael is the owner of Spar on the street and feels the nature of crime in the area has changed.
"What we were most concerned about was the aggression of the crime. For my shop here and for my staff’s safety, that was the biggest problem. Aggression had come into a lot of the crime and there was no fear of anything happening to them. This was the big problem.
"They don't really care about confronting you. They're not worried about anything happening to them. They don't have a problem with fighting you over something really small. So you have to make a decision, is it worth the trouble to take them on to get a bottle of Coke back or something like that?
"But the other problem is that you don't want to be become a soft target as a shop, so you're caught in that limbo. The problem really is that you can't get a reaction from the guards, in terms of how quick they can come, because there aren’t enough guards around. We have to ring a central station and by the time that's dealt with, you mightn’t have somebody for two or three hours. You mightn’t have someone at all that day."
Far from being confined to urban areas, crime is reaching people all over the country. Almost 200km away in Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon, another Spar owner is experiencing many of the same problems.
Pat Towey, owner of Towey’s Spar and Top Oil Service Station, is faced with crime and confrontation on a daily basis
"There is a lot of crime and they have no shame. They'll walk in the door, they'll take what they want and they'll walk out the door.
"I've been in business a long time and I'm not really afraid of any of these situations, but I really fear for my shop manager and my staff because they shouldn't have to deal with this. I mean, this is something that they're trained to do, but it's very intimidating if somebody speaks in an unruly manner to you or speaks in a threatening manner.
"The national figure for retail theft in the country is something in the region of €1.6 million. Every trade association in the country is talking about retail theft. All the ministers are saying we're working closely with the guards. Operation Táirge was brought in in 2023 to hit organised crime and that might be working in the big cities. It's not working in the small towns."
Report Joe Caulfield
