The number of people wounded in gun attacks in the Republic has seen an 85% decline from a peak in 2005, new figures show.
In 2023, nine people required medical treatment after being deliberately shot in “gun assaults”, down from 13 in 2022, and 38 in 2013.
Last year’s figures were obtained by the Irish Times from the Republic’s Health Service Executive (HSE), and show a stark difference from the Celtic Tiger era, when gangland feuding saw a much higher number of such attacks.
In 2005, the number of people deliberately wounded by guns was 59.
The number of people shot dead annually has also fallen in the Republic, with two gun fatalities in 2024, and three in 2023.
This is compared to the 2000s, when gun deaths were close to around 20 per year, and in some years exceeded that number.
The Irish Times reported that Garda sources suggest the drop in both wounding and fatalities is linked to the force catching and charging gunmen involved in the feud between the Kinahan and Hutch organised crime groups.
It is understood improvements in intelligence gathering following the 2016 attack at the Regency Hotel in Dublin, in which 33-year-old David Byrne was shot dead, have also led to a reduction in shootings including through the increased seizing of weapons.
