Dublin woman left ‘uncomfortable’ in city centre after wallet robbed twice in a month

Beibhinn Jones told the Irish Independent that the first incident happened on March 5 when she was on the Luas travelling to see Rick Astley perform at the 3Arena.

“I had my wallet deep in my pocket, and I was conscious of keeping my hand over it while we were aboard,” she said.

“Once or twice, I took my hand off it to keep my balance as we came to a stop.”

It was only when she got off the Luas that she realised her wallet was gone, adding that she “didn’t feel anything”.

Her wallet had roughly €90 in cash, a €150 Arnotts voucher, a €30 Brown Thomas voucher, and a €90 voucher for Dunnes Stores, which she said had been given as birthday and Christmas presents.

Reporting it to a garda at the final stop, she said the officer told her it was an “hourly occurrence”.

The second incident happened last Saturday when her wallet was swiped again as she sat outside Mani, a pizza spot on Drury Street.

This comes as Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures published this week show a total of 74,144 thefts last year, up 12pc in 2022.

This included a 42pc hike in reported thefts from the person.

Ms Jones said she hasn’t been able to get a lot of updates through a victim support line for people that An Garda Síochána operate.

“It does have an impact on you, and I feel really uncomfortable going into town now,” she said.

“It’s sad that I don’t have an easy sense about going freely into the city, and it irritates me.”

She added that while we are being encouraged to use more public transport to reduce emissions, “it needs to be safer”.