Thieves knew where to go

THE thieves knew exactly where to go. They knew the location of the Equestrian Foundation of Ireland’s (EFI) offices, even though the EFI had only moved into them in recent months.

The small, isolated building at the back of the Goffs arena in Kill, Co Kildare, is not obvious as EFI offices and there are no signposts inside the complex for it.

But sometime overnight on Monday, thieves found the building and broke in through the front door.

They went to a specific filing cabinet, where files believed to be linked to Olympic Champion Cian O'Connor were kept. They took documentation and fled.

The alarm was raised at 7.30am yesterday and gardaí from nearby Naas Station arrived within minutes.

The scene was preserved pending the arrival of experts from the Garda Technical Bureau.

Senior officers led by Chief Superintendent Mick Byrnes arrived at the scene and began their investigations. The garda forensic experts arrived at 12.20pm and immediately began a detailed examination of the area, the front door and the offices inside.

The investigation continued for several hours and samples were taken away for in-depth examination.

EFI president Avril Doyle arrived at the scene shortly after lunchtime to see for herself what had happened.

She said that from what she knew there were no CCTV cameras covering the office. There are cameras in nearby offices and at the main entrance and gardaí are understood to be examining those tapes.

Gardaí were tight-lipped yesterday and would only confirm that they were investigating an alleged break-in at the offices.

They will also examine whether there are any links with the theft of a crucial, second urine sample taken from Cian O'Connor's Olympic horse Waterford Crystal, which went missing somewhere between Switzerland and England.

Ms Doyle confirmed files had been taken from the offices. "There are files missing. I don't know how many files. They are important files."

The Fine Gael MEP said: "I am extremely annoyed that people would go to the trouble to break in and poke through a cabinet and steal files in an effort to expose information not readily accessible."

She said she had a good idea as to who would gain from the break-in. "Yes, I can guess whose interests it is to do this, but it is not in my interests to tell you. But I can guess."

Ms Doyle said she would like to say more, but declined to do so pending the outcome of the criminal investigation here and abroad.

"We are damaging a very important industry. A young man's reputation is at stake so I don't want to speak too freely.

"There are criminal investigations in this country, the UK and Switzerland. We have to be careful what we say and observe due process." She said the robbery beggared belief. "It's another grubby chapter in a rather sinister saga," added Ms Doyle.