Attempted robbery at race row shop

GARDAÍ are investigating an attempted robbery yesterday by women wearing traditional Roma costumes from a Cork city shop which was at the centre of a race row last year.

Gardaí were called to the Vibes and Scribes craft shop on Lavitts Quay just after midday when a staff member confronted the group as they tried to leave the shop.

The staff member recovered five rolls of lace, 25 inches high and eight inches wide, worth an estimated €600, which had been hidden under a long skirt.

The group, which included a woman wearing jeans and a dark hoodie, two women wearing traditional Roma costumes and a child, left the premises before gardaí arrived.

Shop owner Joan Lucey, who sparked a race row last year after she displayed photographs in her shop of Roma gypsies following a spate of shoplifting, said she wants to highlight the issue again.

“It is very upsetting and distressing,” she said. “My staff are nervous and in a state of alert again. It is a total strain on them.”

Ms Lucey caused controversy last May when she displayed the photographs under the word “beware”. She said at the time her businesses were being targeted by a gang of up to six women in traditional Romany dress, over a two-year period. She was supported by the Cork Business Association and local traders.

However, she was criticised by Nasc, the Irish immigrant support group, and by members of the Cork Anti-Racism Network (CARN) who said her actions could incite hatred.

Within a week, members of the Roma community had been invited to a meeting facilitated by Cork City Partnership.

Ms Lucey, emphasising she is not racist, said: “Times are hard enough for traders at the moment. We just can’t afford something like this.”