'We lost all of our morning trade' - businesses fearful after more break-ins

Pride weekend is one of the busiest of the year for many city centre businesses, but for one chip shop owner Saturday morning was spent filing police reports after his shop became the latest to be targeted in Belfast.

Gareth McKinstry, who owns Simply Fish & Chips, said it was a costly incident.

Last week another café owner warned the situation was at a "tipping point" after his premises were targeted.

Since then, three more city centre businesses have been broken into and money stolen, including McKinstry's restaurant on Oxford Street.

"Saturday was Pride day and it was meant to be one of our busiest days of the year and we lost all of our morning trade because we couldn't open the shop until the police had finished with their investigation," McKinstry said.

The break-in happened at about 02:00 BST on Saturday.

Belfast is preparing to welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city for the all-Ireland music and dance festival, Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, which begins on Sunday.

McKinstry said he now needed to work to get the shop ready for the festival.

"I need to get repairs for the window.

"It's not what we needed and it's not what anybody in Belfast needs, but it seems to be becoming a more common thing happening at the moment," he said.

His business is just a short walk from the Pocket café which was broken into on 18 July, and he is not the only owner counting the cost of break-ins this week.

Overnight, a beer keg was used to smash the window of Samosa King on King Street.

A sum of money was stolen during the burglary which was reported to police at about 04:40 BST on Tuesday.

Officers later recovered cash and arrested a 32-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman on suspicion of burglary with intent to steal.

Owner Rajiv Prasad said it was "very disturbing".

"In this restaurant business, we already have a lot of challenges and this type of disturbance is not good," he added.

Juko cafe on Gloucester Street was targeted by burglars at about 02:30 BST on Monday and the incident was captured on CCTV.

Shane McGann, a director of Juko, said security at the café was being reviewed after what happened.

He said: "I hope nothing like this happens in Belfast again. Unfortunately, there's been a spate of burglaries across Belfast city centre over the last few weeks.

"Hopefully we're the last. Thankfully we've had a great police response.

"But I think our biggest fear is that we're sitting on the cusp of the Fleadh, and we know that Belfast is about to be on the world stage next week.

"I suppose things like this just don't shed Belfast in the light that we're trying to show the city."

Two men, aged 32 and 38, who were arrested in relation to the Juko cafe burglary have been released on bail to allow for further police enquiries.

Police are continuing to investigate recent incidents and said the crimes have a "detrimental impact".

"It impacts on the livelihoods of those who work there," Supt Gavin Kirkpatrick said.

"The current climate for businesses operating is extremely challenging, without individuals causing further distress to our business community by their actions."

He added that police presence throughout the city has increased.

"As Belfast prepares to welcome visitors and world class performers as part of Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann from Sunday, our officers will be playing an important role in ensuring the smooth running of the week-long event by ensuring the safety of those attending and socialising in the city."

He emphasised that Belfast remains a "vibrant place to live, work and socialise".

PSNI statistics show a falling trend in recorded crime in Northern Ireland since 1998, including a significant reduction in the number of reported burglaries.

This trend is mirrored in the most recent theft statistics for the PSNI's Belfast district.

There were 320 burglaries at business and community premises in Belfast in 2024/25, compared to 210 in the last financial year - a drop of 34%.

However, the number of reported robberies in the city increased over the same period rose

Robbery is recorded separately from theft as this type of crime involves using some kind of force or putting a victim in fear.

There were 232 robberies reported in Belfast in 2024/35 and 338 last year - a rise of 45%.

Shoplifting is a much more prevalent crime than robbery or burglary in Belfast and there were 3,127 incidents reported in 2024/25.

This rose to 3,343 during the last financial year, a rise of almost 7%.

In Northern Ireland as a whole, burglary reports in 2024/25 reached their lowest level in a quarter of a century and represented just 3% of all recorded crime.

Overall, robbery reports were also at their lowest level since 1998.