"Crime-Talk", Security and Fear in the Countryside: A Preliminary Study of a Rural Irish Town and Its Hinterland

Property and violent crime against older people in rural areas have become recurring themes in media representations of rural Ireland. This is also marked in the closure of rural police stations which might exacerbate the sense of abandonment amongst rural dwellers, hence, feeding a greater fear of crime. Top down crime-talk has stressed the need for ‘smart policing’ and state-led strategies have involved short, intensive policing operations to halt the mobility of urban based burglars; and a growing number of communities engaged in Community Alert Schemes and Text Alert Schemes. In this article, we report preliminary findings of our research conducted in a small rural town and the surrounding community in South-East Ireland. The research sought to capture crime-talk in a rural locale to reflect upon broader themes and identify issues for our ongoing research agenda. Data were obtained through a small number of in-depth semistructured interviews with members of the community. Our observations centre on the nature of adaptation to a felt sense of risk, fear and insecurity.