Rural crime is top of the agenda at Ulster farmers’ conference
Crumlin Road Jail in Belfast, which dates from 1845, closed its doors as a working prison in 1996, was extensively renovated and is now a visitor attraction and conference centre.
It has been chosen by the Ulster Farmers Union for a November 4 conference to raise the awareness of rural and agri-crime.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Garda Síochana will be involved in the conference which will focus on best practice in dealing with the issue and on enhancing working relationships across all stakeholders.
Rural crime has cost the economies on the island of Ireland millions of euro in recent years and is a cause of growing concern.
Cattle and machinery thefts were initially confined to the border counties but have now spread countrywide with political and rural leaders calling for vigilance.
Ulster Farmers’ Union President Ian Marshall said leading rural insurer NFU Mutual has confirmed that the value of stolen goods from farms have cost Northern Ireland’s rural economy a startling £3.9 million (€4.89m) in 2013, which is up 15% from £3.4m in 2012.
“The unfortunate reality is that farmers are having valuable livestock and machinery stolen on a regular basis which is having a devastating impact on their businesses and families,” he said.
Mr Marshall urged farmers to take the necessary precautions to ensure tools, machinery, livestock, equipment and property are secure.
Agriculture, Food and Marine Minister, Simon Coveney also urged farmer earlier this year to take the appropriate steps and employ risk management techniques where possible.
The theft of any property, including cattle, is a criminal offence and should be reported to the Garda Síochána which is the appropriate authority to investigate and pursue such criminality.
He said officers of his Department assist the Gardaí with their investigations into such reported events.
There is also close liaison with the relevant authorities in Northern Ireland so that the issue of stolen animals is being addressed on an all-island basis.
“Stolen cattle cannot be traded legally in the State as all bovines must bear official ear tags, be properly registered and be associated with the herd of the individual moving or selling the animal on the Department’s Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) database.
“When cattle are reported as stolen to my Department, they are marked on the AIM database as being stolen on foot of a Garda report.
“If these animals are presented anywhere in the State for sale, slaughter or export they are checked against the database and will be rejected at these outlets and an investigation initiated,” he said.
