Call for more visible gardaí in rural areas

New Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has been urged by farmers to provide a more visible police force for rural Ireland.

IFA president Joe Healy met the Commissioner at the National Ploughing Championships and said he asked for more gardaí as crime in those areas was now “too easy”.

He made his comments as gardaí have revealed that farm thefts fell 8% in the past year — yet €1.4m worth of goods were stolen from farms over the same period.

Mr Healy said: “Theft is becoming too easy in rural Ireland, and crime.”

The figures from the Garda Analysis Unit were published as gardaí said farmers needed to guard against complacency when it came to securing their possessions.

The €1.4m worth of goods stolen from farms in the past 12 months represents a 9% fall in value compared with the previous year, but one headline figure is the €350,000 worth of animals stolen between September 2017 and August 2018.

The figures showed that one-third of tractors stolen from farms had a key in them when they were taken, while three-quarters of vans stolen in the past year also had the key in the vehicle.

There were approximately 1,100 reported farm theft incidents since the last National Ploughing Championships and gardaí said incidents in the last 12 months were more likely to occur at night.

There have been more than 200 incidents of tools being stolen from farms, worth approximately €260,000 in total, while there were more that 100 animal thefts in the past 12 months.

There were 260 incidents where farming equipment was stolen from farms — 18% from the previous 12 months — valued at approximately €220,000.

One hundred trailers were also taken, valued at about €222,000, as well as more than €80,000 worth of stolen property.

Approximately 150 vehicles were stolen from farms in the past year, down 13% from the previous 12-month period, with quad bikes and tractors most likely to be taken.

Gardaí said the number of incidents involving the theft of cattle and horses increased in that period but there was a fall in the number incidents involving sheep, poultry, dogs and pigs.

Sgt Graham Kavanagh, crime prevention officer for the Laois/Offaly Garda Division, said although farm thefts have fallen, he cautioned against complacency.

“Farms are businesses and as such I would advise each farmer to restrict access to their yard, lock gates when not in use and ensure the property is well lit; more farm thefts occur at night than during the day.”